Differentials Between Medalist and Non-Medalist Wrestlers

Exploring the Relationship between Adjustment and Wrestling Performance

by Sanjay Kumar*,

- Published in International Journal of Physical Education & Sports Sciences, E-ISSN: 2231-3745

Volume 5, Issue No. 1, Apr 2013, Pages 0 - 0 (0)

Published by: Ignited Minds Journals


ABSTRACT

Theterm ‘Adjustment’ has been defined in so many ways. According to James Drever.“Adjustment means the modification to compensate for of meet specialconditions”. Webster’s new collegiate dictionary defines adjustment as “theestablishment of a satisfactory relationship, as representing harmony,adaptation or the like”. The dictionary of education defines adjustment as :“the process of finding and adopting modes of behavior suitable to theenvironment or to the changes in the environment”. Adjustment according to thedictionary of psychology: “any operation whereby an organism or organ becomesmore favorably related to the environment or to the entire situationenvironmental and internal”. According to Shaffer, “Adjustment is the processby which a living organism maintains a balance between its needs and thecircumstances that influence the satisfaction of these needs”.

KEYWORD

adjustment, medalist, non-medalist, wrestlers, differentials

INTRODUCTION

Psychology is an increasingly popular and important area of human performance, which concerns research into sporting and athletic performance, particularly with regard to improvement. It is now accepted that superior sporting performance is not just dependent upon physical and motor skills but on perceptual and cognitive skills as well. Thus sports psychologists are playing an increasingly important role in individual and team sports. Sports and exercise psychology has been defined as the scientific study of people and their behaviors in sports and exercise context and the practical application of that knowledge Gill (1979). Where there is behavior, there is psychology. Physical education and sports make an art-science combine dealing with movement, motion, activity, play, recreation and the like. In essence, they are activity based endeavors; in function, they are enhancers of health and fitness; in objective, they are developmental to the core; in nature, they are joyful, recreating and relaxing, and in purpose, they are and ought to be out and out educational. The branch of psychology which is intimately connected with human behavior on the playfield – both under practice and competitive situations – with a view to bring about quantitative improvement in performance, is usually called “exercise and sport psychology”. It is basically of applied nature. Physical education, an educational Endeavour, is much wider in range and focus than elite competitive sport. Whereas the one is extensive and general, the other is intensively performance-oriented and specific. Like circle within circle, they are inseparable. Where as physical education is milk, sports are butter churned out of it. There cannot be butter without milk. The physical educator and the coach grapple with almost the same problems and parameters of behaviours. It would be futile to segregate physical education and sport on psychological parameters and put them in watertight compartments. The divergence or convergence in the application of psychological principles to the understanding and modification of behaviour in physical education and sports is more a matter of degree than of kind. Psychology in physical education or exercise has its focus on general pro-cesses and procedures of learning, motivation, play, growth and development etc. In sports its concerns become more or less specific. Besides, skill-acquisition, greater emphasis is on psychological training, coping strategies, interventions, mental skills and the like. Both in activity and psychological dimensions, the sport-perspective is much more specific than physical education scenario. The psychological problems of performing athletes are more subtle, serious and complex than of those who engage in physical activity for fun, fitness, health, recreation and play. That, perhaps, is the reason why activity behavior has been subjected to more vigorous research in sports context than play or exercise context over the last four decades. The need for psychologizing education has been emphasized since the days of Pestalozzi who, as Ross (1955) puts it, felt that the mind of the pupil is the primary concern of the educator, and that 'the art of education must be based on an accurate knowledge of the mental processes'. The major objectives of education and physical education precisely are (a) acquisition of skills, and (b) high level of performance in physical and intellectual acts and activities. Man's ability to learn and to perform are governed by natural laws as well as contrived procedures and processes. The centre of all educa-tional and sports endeavour, is the individual (child). Teaching is impossible without complete knowledge of learners' physical potential, mental abilities and intellectual powers at all stages of learning and factors and conditions associated with them. Sport psychology at the baseline is essentially educational psychology. Williams (1964) aptly remarked: "physical education in its methods and materials should reflect modern psychology ..........This is the true function of the teacher to use the native impulses of the young as a starting point for assimilation of knowledge, acquisition of skills and development of the habits of the society into which the youth comes". The relationship between education and psychology as well as between body and mind is well defined. It needs no overemphasis. Without complete understanding of the behaviour which is the central

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for learning and performance, the raw material of innate behaviour (instincts, emotions, reflexes) is required to be understood in its biological as well as social contexts and treated accordingly. Psychology, therefore, helps the teachers/coaches to understand the real springs of human behavior and devise ways and means to direct and guide the out-flow of psychic energy into channels which irrigate the fertile tracks of human development to the optimal level. The ultimate beneficiary in this process is the individual. Psychology in physical education and sport is not simply an academic subject at the training colleges. In fact, it is practiced by coaches and athletes in the field setting. Psychological intervention, coping strategies, mental skills such as imagining, concentrating, focusing team interaction and cohesion are all practical tasks in which athletes, teachers/coaches, and sport psychologists play a reciprocally cooperative but decisive role. All other things being equal, an athletic event/game is won in the mind. One of the goals of applied sport psychology is to investigate human performance to stabilize and to enhance sport performance by striking balance between the physical and mental dimensions of performance. Sports without psychology are a headless horseman trying to run in various directions without accomplishing anything worth the name. Today, there is no sport without sports psychology. “Though its content areas began with a behavioral emphasis, sport psychology is now looking at dynamics and inter-factional variables, with a major interest in mediating variables – the athletes, perceptions and cognitions” (Browne and Mahoney, 1984). Singer (1981) vouches for the fact that “sports psychology is an applied psychology, in the same way military and industrial psychology are. It encompasses various branches of psychology as they are related to our ability to understand athletic performance, how to make it better, and how to influence favourable psychological outcomes from experiences in sports and exercise programs”. Like physical education, which derives its substance from a variety of sciences, humanities and arts, sports psychology borrows its content and methods mostly from social psychology, clinical and counseling psychology, development psychology, psychometrics, performance psychology and learning psychology. It is yet to evolve itself as a discipline in real sense of the term. In “how –to-make performance better” scenario, sport psychology raises itself from the theoretical level and ventures into the practical, and often peculiar situations in which the athlete and the coach become the real direct consumers of psychological principles governing performance. In this respect, sports psychology is gradually evolving itself as a discipline of highest practical value. “In some areas”, says Singer (1984), legitimate branch of sports medicine. In other areas of the world, its rich history is being nourished even further, helping athletes and coaches alike in a variety of progressive ways”. Psychological development among the sports person is paramount important for achieve excellence in sports activities. Psychological condition like organizational health and adjustment among physical education teachers is essential for organizing better sports activities in schools and colleges. The Health and Physical Education domain provides students with knowledge, skills and behaviours to enable them to achieve a degree of autonomy in developing and maintaining their physical, mental, social and emotional health. This domain focuses on the importance of a healthy lifestyle and physical activity in the lives of individuals and groups in our society. This domain is unique in having the potential to impact on the physical, social, emotional and mental health of students. It promotes the potential for lifelong participation in physical activity through the development of motor skills and movement competence, health-related physical fitness and sport education. Engaging in physical activity, games, sport and outdoor recreation contributes to a sense of community and social connectedness. These are vital components of improved wellbeing. Students’ involvement in physical activity can take many forms, ranging from individual, non-competitive activity through to competitive team games. Emphasis is placed on combining motor skills and tactical knowledge to improve individual and team performance. Students progress from the development of basic motor skills to the performance of complex movement patterns that form part of team games. They learn how developing physical capacity in areas such as strength, flexibility and endurance is related to both fitness and physical performance. Students progress from learning simple rules and procedures to enable them to participate in movement and physical activity safely, to using equipment safely and confidently. Students undertake a variety of roles when participating in sports such as umpire, coach, player and administrator and assume responsibility for the organisation of aspects of a sporting competition. This domain explores the developmental changes that occur throughout the human lifespan. It begins by identifying the health needs necessary to promote and maintain growth and development, followed by discussion of significant transitions across the lifespan including puberty, to gaining an understanding of human sexuality and factors that influence its expression. The exploration of human development also includes a focus on the establishment of personal identity, factors that shape identity and the validity of stereotypes. Students

Sanjay Kumar

They identify the harms associated with particular situations and behaviours and how to take action to minimize these harms. To enhance the sporting ability among the students, the organization health and adjustment among teacher is very important. So the investigator undertakes this study. Strength is essential in modern wrestling and wrestling falls in the category of sports defined as “strength–dependent” by Wrigley (2000). Wrestling events performed in a tournament setting and thus require multiple matches within a single day and on successive days. Therefore, wrestling tournaments present various physiological stresses (Horswill, 1992; Morgan, 1970). Because a wrestling match requires strength of the upper and lower body musculature for various wrestling techniques, evaluation of these variables may be important to determine athletic performance capacity (Horswill, 1992). A serious scanning of the researches conducted in the area of management of sports/physical education reveals that very few studies have been conducted to study the organizational health and adjustment of physical education teachers. This inspired the investigator to take up a study on this field.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objectives of the present study are as under: 1. To find out significance differences between junior medalist and non-medalist wrestlers of Haryana state and national level of all weight category in self-concept socio-psychological variables. 2. To find out significance differences between senior medalist and non-medalist wrestlers of Haryana state and national level of all weight category in self-concept socio-psychological variables. 3. To find out significance differences between junior medalist and non-medalist wrestlers of Haryana state and national level of all weight category in adjustment socio-psychological variables. 4. To find out significance differences between senior medalist and non-medalist wrestlers of Haryana state and national level of all weight category in adjustment socio-psychological variables. 5. To find out significance differences between junior medalist and non-medalist wrestlers of Haryana state and national level of all weight category in aggression socio-psychological variables. 6. To find out significance differences between senior medalist and non-medalist wrestlers of Haryana

HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY

There exist no significant differences between medalist and non-medalist junior level wrestlers of Haryana state and national level on self-concept socio-psychological variables. There exist no significant differences between medalist and non-medalist senior level wrestlers of Haryana state and national level on self-concept socio-psychological variables. There exist no significant differences between medalist and non-medalist junior level wrestlers of Haryana state and national level on adjustment socio-psychological variables. There exist no significant differences between medalist and non-medalist senior level wrestlers of Haryana state and national level on self-concept socio-psychological variables. There exist no significant differences between medalist and non-medalist junior level wrestlers of Haryana state and national level on aggression socio-psychological variables. There exist no significant differences between medalist and non-medalist senior level wrestlers of Haryana state and national level on self-concept socio-psychological variables.

POPULATION AND SAMPLE

All the physical education teachers teaching in various colleges of Haryana state constituted the population of the study. However, the sample for the present work was drawn on random basis while using the lottery method. As many as 128 wrestlers in junior and senior all weight categories were taken as subject from Haryana and national level wrestlers. A systematic random sampling technique was used for selection of sample.

DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:

This study was delimited to a sample of 128 wrestlers from the state of Haryana. The national level wrestlers of different states, including that of Haryana were considered as subject.

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excluded. Male wrestlers were considered as subject only.

REFERENCES

Agarwal, Y.P.(1986). Statistical Methods in Education, New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Private Limited. Agarwala, U.N., Malhan, N.K. & Singh, B. (1979). Some clarifications of ‘Stress’ and its application at work. Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol.15, (2) 41-50. Aggarwal, R. (1986). Authoritarianism and Stress: Some findings of Indian Adolescents, Psychological Studies, Vol.31(2). 16-164 Anis Ahmed (1994). Occupational stress and certain bibliographical variables as predictors of organizational change. Journal of Community Guidance and Research. 11, 95-103 Asthana, H.S. (1985). The concept of stress: A phenomenological approach. International Journal of Social Science, Vol.1 (2), 39-44. Balani, V.J.(1991). A Study of Role Performance by the Heads of Secondary Schools and its Correlates, Unpublished Ph.D. Education Thesis, Kurukshetra University, Kururkshetra Barrow, R., Peters, R.S. (1976). Role of the Head, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, Bassett, G.W. (1976). Headmasters for Better Schools. Melbourne: University of Queensland Press.