stress managment

• Cognitive stress


  The cognitive experience of stress is psychological. It brings negative thoughts and feelings, including the irrational thinking of the inability to cope with the demands of the situation.
• Attentional narrowing


  The loss of concentration can be linked to the process called attentional narrowing when arousal and anxiety levels increase – the ability to take in information or cues from the environment is reduced therefore some important information may be missed at higher levels of stress.
• Fear of failure


  The player may begin to experience some of the things associated with fear of failure and begin to worry about letting down the coach with a poor performance
• Somatic stress


  Somatic stress is physiological and involves the physical response to stress. This might include an increase in heart rate and an increase in sweating. In extreme cases the player may suffer from nausea or feelings of sickness.
• Muscular tension


  One of the most damaging somatic responses is muscular tension, sometimes seen in sports performers when they are involved in high pressure, isolated situations such as taking a shot in basketball. The muscular tension may cause an inaccurate or weak attempt.
• cognitive stress management technique: Thought stopping

  When negative or irrational thoughts occur, the performer uses a learned action or trigger to remove them. This learned physical action or cue can be a simple movement or rehearsed action that is linked to the negative thought to redirect the attention to the task in hand.
• cognitive stress management technique: Thought stopping example


  • A batter in cricket might prod the ground with the bat prior to the delivery of the bowler to redirect their attention to the pitch of the ball that they have previously found hard to pick up.
• Positive self-talk


  Self-talk is when the performer replaces negative thoughts with positive ones.

  self-talk can also be used to help the player focus on a tactic or instruction from the coach and it can be used to overcome a weakness.

  self-talk can overcome a bad habit - thinking about how to change the action to correct action
• Positive self-talk


  • A squash player who is struggling to get the ball may think '' I can get to the ball if I just move sooner and get on my toes''.
• Imagery


  Imagery can recreate a successful image of the action from a past performance when the skill was performed successfully and the player can recall the feel of the actual movements in the mind.

  imagery can go even further and use the emotions associated with that successful action as well.
• Imagery


  • The netball shooter who has scored a goal to win a close match would imagine the satisfaction and elation associated with that winning shot and use those emotions to build up feelings of confidence for the current situation.
• Visualisation


  Visualisation uses a mental image of the skill, an image is perfected while performing the skill successfully in training. The image is then 'locked in' and re-lived when the skill is performed for real.

  
  

  in the real game situation it is possible the performer may feel some pressure from the crowd/aggression from other players. the player can visualise these feelings when practicing and overcome them so that when the skill is performed in real life situation the experiences have already been dealt with and the player has confidence to deal with them.
• Internal visualisation/imagery


  Player looks at emotions and feelings involved in the skill e.g., kinaesthesis of the movement
• External visualisation/imagery


  Player has an image that focuses on the environment – as if watching themselves on TV. Details of the pitch and the opponents may be used
• Mental rehearsal


  Process of going over the movements of a task in the mind before the action takes place.
• Mental rehearsal


  • Especially useful for athletes about to perform a sequence of skills e.g., dance routine
  • If the required movements are rehearsed in order and in a spatial sequence then the performer is less likely to forget the order of the moves or the required actions and therefore stress is reduced
  • Best done in a calm situation prior to event
• Attentional narrowing


  One of the consequences of stress is that the performer may lose concentration and focus on incorrect stimuli from the environment. As stress and arousal increase the ability to take in information reduces = attentional narrowing
• Cue utilisation

  The effect of emotion on cue utilisation suggested that the ability to take in information is directly linked to levels of arousal an influence Easterbrook called cue utilisation.

  
  

  therefore at low levels of stress the performer is able to process plenty of cues from the environment
• Attentional wastage


  At high levels of arousal and stress only limited information can be processed and this may cause important info to be missed = attentional wastage – reduces level of performance.
• Attentional styles


  • Broad - a number of cues can be identified
  • Narrow - its best to focus on only 1 or 2 cues
  • External - when information is drawn from the environment
  • Internal - when information is used from within the performer
• Attentional styles can be combined


  • Broad external - wide range of cues drawn from the environment
  • narrow external - player would focus on a specific cue in the environment
  • broad internal - coach or player would analyse information to come up with a tactic to use during the game
  • narrow internal - when a specific weakness or coaching point cna be mentally rehearsed
• somatic stress management technique - Biofeedback

  This technique uses a measuring device to help the athlete recognise the physical changes that will happen when your under stress. Measures would include HR; the galvanic skin response that measures increases in electrical activity when sweating or electromyography that measures muscular tension with electrodes taped to the skin.
• Progressive muscle relaxation

  This is a physical technique, often conducted with the use of recorded instructions, when the performer alternates between a state of tension in a group of muscles to state of relaxation in those same muscles. The group of muscles that are tensed, held and then relaxed are worked progressively from the periphery of the body to the core.
• Centring


  Centring is a form of breathing control when, at opportune times, the sports performer can learn to relax the shoulders and chest while concentrating on the slow movement of the abdominal muscles when taking deep controlled breaths.

  the use of slow controlled breathing diverts the attention away from the stressful situation and once the technique has been mastered the athlete can use it quickly when the need arises.
• • The idea behind using attentional control is that if the correct style is chosen at the right time then stress is lowered and performance is enhanced. During a game an experienced player may learn to switch styles as appropriate and therefore make correct choices
• biofeedback continues


  the athlete learns to recognise when such physical symptoms are happening & can eventually do so without using the measuring device - when signs are recognised the performer can then use techniques to calm down and reduce stress.