PE Section b paper 2

• Eustress


  positive response of the body to a threat
• stress


  negative response of the body to a threat causing anxiety.

  response of the individual to a perceived threat. perceived imbalance between the demands of a task and the individuals ability
• Stressor


  an event or situation that causes stress eg:

  injury

  important match

  playing against high ability opponent

  playing for an important reward (large prize money)

  fear of failure (pressure from being watched by significant others)
• Somatic (physiological) symptoms of stress

  Dry Mouth

  increase blood pressure

  sinking feeling/feeling sick

  increase oxygen uptake

  decreased flow of blood to skin

  breathing rate increases

  heart rate increases and sweating
• cognitive symptoms (psychological)


  Loss of Focus

  Uneasiness

  Negative Thoughts

  Indecisive

  Worry

  Confusion

  Feeling overwhelmed

  Narrowing of attention
• behavioural symptoms


  Rapid talking

  trembling

  raised voice pitch

  frequent urination

  scowling

  nail biting

  pacing
• thought stopping


  (cognitive stress management): Performer can use learned action or queue to remove negative or irrational thoughts. Physical action redirects attention to task at hand
• positive self talk


  (cognitive stress management)- Replacing negative thoughts of positive ones positive self-talk can be used to overcome bad habits
• Imagery


  (cognitive stress management): Form of mental pictures that are often unrelated to the actual sporting action to reduce the feeling of anxiety

  create calms and tranquil visions
• visualisation


  (cognitive stress management)Involves using mental images stored in the athlete's memory of the perfect model (autonomous performer has this)

  can visualise crowd to stimulate real environment

  can be external (watching themselves perform or concentrate on playing environment)

  can be internal (concentrating on feeling or kinesthesis)
• mental rehearsal


  (cognitive stress management)Going over the movement of a task in the mind before the action takes place. useful for sequences

  it improves ability to remember sequences and reduces anxiety it's used to familiarise the athlete with a competition site motivate the athlete by recalling images of goals

  perfect skills /sequences

  reduce negative thoughts to bring about positive outcomes

  set stage for performance
• attentional control and cue utilisation


  (cognitive stress management)As stress increases the ability to process information decreases. hard to concentrate, focus on irrelevant cues

  at higher levels of arousal attentional wastage occurs. To avoid this the correct attentional style needs to be selected, broad external, broad internal, narrow external or narrow internal.
• Attention Narrowing


  increase in arousal or stress - reduces the ability to take in info
• cue utilisation


  (cognitive stress management)The ability to process information is directly linked to the level of arousal

  Low levels of stress and anxiety allow the performance utilise cues from the environment effectively

  high levels of stress may cause important information to be missed = attentional wastage

  
• broad


  when there are a number of cues that can be identified
• narrow


  When is best to focus on one or two cues
• External


  When information is drawn from the environment
• Internal


  When info is used from within the performer
• Broad external


  Picking up wide range of cues from environment

  e.g. position of players in game
• broad internal


  mental analysis of strategic and tactics cues (analyse game and plan tactics)
• Narrow external


  focus is narrowed to one environmental cue for example golfer concentrating on 1 putt
• Narrow internal


  Mental practise of a cues (concentrate on weakness)
• psychological skills training


  (cognitive stress management) an individually designed combination of any of the methods discussed selected to improve stress management during competition. Teams now employ people to guide players through visualisation and mental rehearsal
• centring


  (somatic stress management) Form of breathing control where the performer relaxes the shoulders and chest and focuses on the slow movement of the abdominal muscles. The breathing diverts the attention away from the stressful situation. can only be done at certain times.
• biofeedback


  (somatic stress management) Looks directly at physiological responses to stress and anxiety collected on heart rate, breathing rate, skin temperature and muscle tension:

  awareness leads to better coping strategy and control stress levels
• Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)


  A relaxation method that involves slowly tensing and relaxing each muscle group. more Effective with practise, start with periphery of body and move towards core.

  Negative can be muscles can relax during game so only use when there's plenty of time.
• anxiety


  state of nervousness and worry - negative response to threatening sporting situation
• reasons for someone becoming anxious during sport

  perceived difficulty of situation doesn't match players own perception of their ability

  level of competition/opposition

  magnitude of competition eg cup final

  personality (either introvert or extrovert)

  fear of failure
• Competitive trait anxiety


  general disposition to suffer from nervousness in most sporting situations

  simply can be part of a players genetic make-up (trait)

  displayed before all competition regardless of importance

  athlete feels nervous every time
• Competitive state anxiety


  A nervous response to specific sporting situations (penalties)

  more temporary response to a particular moment in the match/specific sporting
• cognitive anxiety


  A psychological response such as worrying about losing. thoughts of worry and concern over perceived lack of ability to complete tasks. usually prior to event (nervousness). negative relationship with performance

  
• somatic anxiety


  a physiological response to a threat such as an increase in heart rate. response of a body to individuals belief that they don't have the ability to complete task - sweating, blood pressure rises and muscle tension. symptoms reduce when event has started. same as inverted u theory

  
• measuring anxiety - physiological tests(biological)

  monitoring heart rate or galvanic skin response (sweat levels on skin). measuring muscle responses

  advantages - done during performance, factual measures - objective, easily comparable

  disadvantages - measuring equipment can be restrictive and the athlete might not be willing to take part, being measured can increase stress, expensive. wearing devices could restrict movement
• measuring anxiety - observations


  involves watching others as they perform, can be done live or via video for example. individual displays stress may : inaccurate passing, nervous actions, fidgeting, unexpected aggression.

  advantages - realistic, true to life picture can be obtained , easy for large groups, cheap

  disadvantages - observer may be biased and need training themselves. performers arousal and anxiety level may increase if they know they're being watched. time consuming, need more than one person, subjective.
• measuring anxiety - questionnaires

  SCAT. series of questions that ask people about their anxiety levels

  advantages - quick and easy. cheap and deals with lots of info (comparable)

  disadvantages - people often give socially acceptable answers and not the truth. misunderstand some questions, relies on honesty. doesn't cover all sporting situations, mood, social desirability.
• aggression


  intentional hostile behaviour aimed at causing physical harm or psychological pain to another person. outside the rules, out of control, reactive.
• assertion


  controlled, within the rules of the game. no intent to harm - well motivated (normal slide tackle)
• instrumental aggression


  intent to harm but within the rules (boxing punch)
• instinct theory


  suggests aggression is genetically inherited

  highlights that aggression is innate and present in everyone

  evolutionary approach - violence lies within everyone due to a basic instinct to dominate. aggressive instincts can surface as a reaction to a bad foul. threat of injury = defending yourself. the aggressive act that occurs after instinct theory is called catharsis
• Catharsis


  aggressive act is a cleansing of emotions, sporting act as an outlet for aggression. allows performer to start to calm down after - can be beneficial