Support for P5 & M3

BTEC National - Sport

Unit 17: Psychology for Sports Performance

Activity 23 – Don’t be a loafer!!!

Have you ever felt that someone in your team is not pulling their weight or that you have had to work harder than others to cover a team mate who is just not performing?

Well, we can explain that – it may not be their entire fault but as a coach or a manager you should be aware of the reason why this happens.

The Ringelmann Effect & Social Loafing

Support for P5 & M3

Imagine you are in a tug of war competition. Its one against one and your reputation and ego are at stake so how much effort would you put in to the pull?

  1. 50%
  2. 80%
  3. 100%
  4. 110%

Support for P5 & M3

I would guess its either c or d.

Support for P5 & M3

Now imagine you are in a tug of war competition but this time you are competing with a team of 4 others – 2 of them are champions at this and are really fit, you in comparison feel pretty small. Now how much effort would you put into the pull?

  1. 50%
  2. 80%
  3. 100%
  4. 110%

Support for P5 & M3

This time it could be as little as 50%.

Why do you think this has happened?

This is what’s known as the Ringelmann Effect

When a group size increases the individual productivity of the people in the group decreases, sometimes as much as 50%.

Having an understanding of why a team member may not be performing to their best ability is important in sport.

What happens in a team when one or two members are seen to “coast along” and not pull their weight. Can you give any examples of this from your experience?

An individual’s poor performance as part of a team can be explained by The Ringelmann Effect and Social Loafing.

Social Loafing occurs when group members do not put in 100% effort, usually due to losses in motivation.

If you were an advisor to the following team what advice would you give them about their team performance? Can you identify reasons for social loafing within the team?

Final theory to have a quick look at…have a go at defining the following terms:

Interactive Groups

Coactive Groups

Look at the following sports teams. Can you identify what type of team they are?

Sports Team / Interactive / Coactive
Bristol Harriers Running Club
West Tamworth Football Club
Cardiff All Star Ten Pin Bowling Team
Ryder Cup Golf Team
Olympic Team GB
McLaren F1 Team
Bristol Harriers 100 m Relay Team
Nottingham Masters Swimming Team