AQA GCSE Physical Education Paper 2: Socio-cultural influences and wellbeing in physical activity and sport, June 2025: Question 16

• AO1 (2 Marks): Knowledge and definitions of arousal, stress management, and goal types.
• AO2 (2 Marks): Application to 100m sprinting and John's personal target.
• AO3 (5 Marks): Analysis of how and why these methods maximise performance.

• Optimal Arousal: Inverted-U theory, gross skill requirements.
• Stress Management: Deep breathing, positive self-talk, visualisation.
• Goal Setting: Performance vs outcome goals, SMART targets.

💡 Key Knowledge (AO1)

• Arousal: A physical and mental state of alertness and readiness, ranging from deep sleep to intense excitement.
• Inverted-U Theory: Performance increases with arousal up to an optimal point; under-arousal or over-arousal leads to a drop in performance.

✅ Application & Analysis (AO2 & AO3)

• Gross Skill Demand: The 100m sprint is a gross skill requiring large muscle groups (quadriceps, gastrocnemius) and explosive power. Therefore, John needs a high optimal arousal level.
• Under-Arousal: Leads to sluggish reaction time out of the blocks and a lack of explosive drive.
• Over-Arousal: Causes muscle tightness (reducing stride frequency/length) or premature movement resulting in a false start / disqualification.

💡 Key Knowledge (AO1)

• Deep Breathing: Slow, deep breaths to regulate heart rate and reduce physiological (somatic) tension.
• Positive Self-Talk: Internal dialogue replacing negative doubts with positive cues (e.g., "drive hard out of the blocks").
• Mental Rehearsal / Visualisation: Creating a vivid mental picture of executing a perfect start, drive phase, and sprint finish.

✅ Application & Analysis (AO2 & AO3)

• Controlling Over-Arousal: If John is overly anxious on the blocks, deep breathing lowers his heart rate to prevent muscle stiffness and false starts.
• Generating High Arousal / Confidence: Self-talk ("explosive power!") psychs him up to reach his high optimal arousal state.
• Focusing Attention: Visualising his drive phase blocks out crowd distractions and helps motor programmes run automatically once the gun fires.

💡 Key Knowledge (AO1)

• Performance Goals: Targets focused purely on individual personal standards and execution (e.g., time), without comparison to others.
• Outcome Goals: Targets focused on the end result and winning (e.g., finishing 1st place).
• SMART Targets: Specific, Measurable, Accepted, Realistic, Time-bound.

✅ Application & Analysis (AO2 & AO3)

• Personal Best = Performance Goal: John's psychologist will encourage him to target his own time rather than winning the race. This reduces social comparison and cognitive anxiety.
• SMART Application in Training: Setting a specific, measurable target (e.g., reducing block clearance time by 0.05 seconds over 4 weeks) provides focus and motivation in training.
• Performance Maximisation: Consistent training progression directly produces the technical improvements required to beat his PB.

❌ Common Errors Made by Students

• Claiming sprinting needs low arousal: Confusing sprinting with fine, precise skills like archery or putting in golf. Sprinting requires high arousal!
• Only describing, not analyzing: Stating what deep breathing is without saying how it physically prevents a false start or frees up muscle tension.
• Confusing goal types: Calling a "personal best" an outcome goal. A PB is a performance goal because John has direct control over his own time, regardless of where competitors place.
• Omitting one of the three areas: Leaving out goal setting or stress management automatically caps the response at Level 2 (max 6 marks).

🧠 Model Paragraph Structure (PEEL)

Follow this pattern for all three sub-topics to hit Level 3:

1. Point: State the concept clearly (e.g., "100m sprinting is a gross skill requiring high optimal arousal.")
2. Explain (AO1): Define arousal and the Inverted-U theory.
3. Apply (AO2): Connect directly to John using large leg muscles (quadriceps/gastrocnemius) to explode out of the blocks.
4. Analyse (AO3): Explain the exact consequence (e.g., "If over-aroused, muscle tightness will limit his knee drive and could cause a false start. By finding his optimal zone, he maximizes power and reaction speed to beat his PB.")