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OCR GCSE PE: Sports psychology (Component 02) overview

An overview of the sports psychology content in OCR GCSE PE (J587) Component 02, mapping skill classification, goal setting, mental preparation, guidance and feedback, and information processing, and how they are examined on the second written paper.

Generated by Claude Opus 4.88 min readJ587 Component 02

Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed

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  1. The sports psychology content
  2. How this topic is examined
  3. How to study sports psychology
  4. For the official specification

Sports psychology is one of the three areas of Component 02: Socio-cultural issues and sports psychology in OCR GCSE PE (specification J587), examined on the second written paper (J587/02). This page maps the topic and links to a focused answer page for each part.

The sports psychology content

Skill classification
Classifying skills on continua (open to closed, simple to complex) and using classification to plan practice. See Skill classification.
Goal setting
Why performers set goals, the SMART principle, and outcome versus performance goals. See Goal setting.
Mental preparation
Mental rehearsal, visualisation, selective attention and self-talk, arousal and the inverted-U, and controlling arousal. See Mental preparation.
Guidance and feedback
The four types of guidance (visual, verbal, manual, mechanical) and the types of feedback, and which suit beginners and experts. See Guidance and feedback.
Information processing
The basic model (input, decision making, output, feedback) and how a performer responds to a stimulus. See Information processing.

How this topic is examined

Sports psychology is assessed on Component 02 (J587/02), a 1 hour written paper worth 60 marks and 30 percent of the GCSE, shared with socio-cultural influences and health, fitness and well-being. Questions range from multiple-choice and short-answer to extended responses, and reward applying a model or technique to a named performer.

How to study sports psychology

  1. Learn the continua. Classify a skill on open-to-closed and simple-to-complex, with a justification.
  2. Master SMART and goal types. Explain each SMART letter and the outcome-versus-performance distinction.
  3. Understand arousal. Use the inverted-U and the techniques to control arousal at the optimal level.
  4. Match guidance and feedback to the learner. Beginners need visual guidance and simple positive feedback; experts need verbal guidance and knowledge of performance.
  5. Apply the information processing model. Work the four stages through a real sporting example.

For the official specification

OCR publishes the full specification (J587), past papers and mark schemes at ocr.org.uk. Always revise from the current specification and OCR's own past papers, because question style is board-specific.

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