Week 4 - Listening to music

Weeks 4 and 5 are the practice phases of the PST programme. The client will progress from learning the psychological skills from practices and simulations to actual competitions. This phase focuses on automating skills through over-learning, integrating psychological skills, and simulating the skills the client wants to apply to actual competitions. 

This weeks meeting took place in a quiet neutral environment so it was easier for me and the client to put together a playlist of songs I feel would be suitable to listen to before competition. The session took 2 hours and this was enough time to explain the choice of song and agree on a suitable playlist. The client brought these 2 songs (shown below) to the meeting, and using these songs I used the same artist but founds songs with higher beats per minute to meet their needs prior to an event; an increase in motivation. 

It is clear to see that the client has a strong interest in Arctic Monkeys and Michael Jackson songs, so, with that knowledge, I have produced this playlist for the client to listen to before a match. The playlist lasts roughly 25 minutes and consists of 6 songs from the client's favourite artists. Notice how the BPM increases throughout the playlist, this will have a positive impact on the client's motivation as it will increase as the event gets closer and closer. 

Before event playlist:

Michael Jackson - Beat it (4:19 139bpm)

Arctic Monkeys - When the sun goes down (3:23 169bpm)

Arctic Monkeys - One for the road (3:27 180bpm)

Arctic Monkeys - Arabella (3:28 180bpm)

Arctic Monkeys - From the ritz to the rubble (3:13 193bpm)

Michael Jackson - Wanna be starting something (6:02 245bpm)

I instructed the client to listen to this playlist before their next match and after the match they should make a note of how they felt before hand and whether or not they found an improvement in their motivation level. This week has enabled to client to be able to make their own playlist by monitoring the BPM of the song primarily. I also ensured that the coach of the client's team implemented these songs before a match to see if there were any improvements made to the client's motivation; this will benefit both the client and the team's overall performance as a result.