Optimal Activation Level and Performance in a Non-Professional Soccer Player

Abstract

The objective of this work was psychological training for controlling the optimal level of physiological activation to improve performance. In this single case study (N = 1), the participant was a 23-year-old male who played soccer in a team competing in the second provincial amateur category of the Andalusian Soccer Federation. Training was divided into three phases related to the level of activation and performance, (1) self-knowledge: the participant had to learn to know his own activation level. In this phase, he performed different physical exercises and was then asked about his heart rate (HR) and subsequently given feedback on it; (2) definition of the activation level: the objective was to try and find out with which HR he achieved the best performance when following an ad hoc circuit (optimal activation level); (3) self-regulation: during this phase, the subject was trained to self-regulate his own HR so that he could reach his optimal activation level and thus achieve good performance. The results suggest that the player learned self-knowledge and self-regulation of his optimal activation level through application of feedback and use of the heart rate monitor. The best performance occurred when the pulse rate ranged from 161 to 166 bpm. It is concluded that psychological training in self-regulation of the optimal level of physiological activation contributes to improve performance, as has been shown in this work.