A junior elite tennis player, previously highly anxious and experiencing a performance slump, is assigned a new sports psychologist. The psychologist shifts the player's focus from ego-oriented goals (ranking points, winning matches) to task-oriented (mastery) goals. Additionally, the psychologist retrains the player's attributions for failure, moving her from attributing losses to stable, internal factors (lack of innate talent) to unstable, controllable factors (tactical selection and effort). The player's commercial sponsors express concern that this approach ignores the "competitive edge" needed to win. However, the player subsequently wins a major regional tournament, demonstrating high levels of confidence and resilience.
Discuss how a sports psychologist might apply cognitive theories of motivation to explain this successful outcome to the player's sponsors.
