Athletes performing under pressure rely on coping strategies to manage their stress
Coping strategies are being used as a way of eliminating an athlete’s level of stress and arousal before a game (Morgan, 2010). Crocker, Kowalski, and Graham (1998) and Lazarus (1999) said that coping represents an individual's cognitive, affective, and behavioral efforts to manage specific external and/or internal demands. Athletes must develop a range of cognitive and behavioral coping skills to manage the competitive stressors they face (Scanlan, Stein, & Ravizza, 1991).
Different coping strategies have to be employed by athletes as they face different critical situation. Kristiansen, Roberts and Abrahamsen (2007), said that different sports have different sources of stress, and consequently participants require special strategies to cope successfully in their particular field. Coping strategies used are self-talk, imagery and muscular relaxation. Imagery is a form of cognitive restructuring. Murphy, Nordin and Cumming (2008) said that imagery can aid learning and performance, support important psychological qualities such as self-confidence, and is characteristic of high-level performance. source
Anxiety uses up attention and working memory, thus hindering athletes performance.
Anxiety is different from stress, it is defined by persistent, excessive worries that don't go away even in the absence of a stressor. Anxiety is conceived as a response of the body, confronted with environmental demands. The state of anxiety is linked to the perception of a threat as a result of the evaluation of the current situation as dangerous, physically or psychologically. source Anxiety is an emotional experience (state-like, trait-like and meta-experience). People under stress experience mental and physical symptoms, such as irritability, anger, fatigue, muscle pain, digestive troubles, and difficulty sleeping. source
The emotional response from anxiety stems from the perception of a discrepancy (imbalance) between the difficulty of the task and the response capacities. This response would also depend on the importance of success or failure for the subject: the perception of a subjective discrepancy between difficulty and ability only has an anxiety-provoking character if achieving the result represents a real challenge. for the subject. Martens, Vealey and Burton (1990) anxiety in athletes.
Guidelines for anxiety-centered coping are proposed with the emphasis on emotion- and action-focused strategies that affect situational emotional experiences accompanying performance.
Mindfulness and acceptance-based approaches are gaining momentum with sport psychology practitioners who work to support elite athletes. These third wave cognitive behavioral approaches in sport psychology highlight that thought suppression and control techniques can trigger a metacognitive scanning process, and that excessive cognitive activity and task-irrelevant focus (self-focused attention such as trying to change thoughts) disrupts performance. source
Sport psychology researcher, Dr Faye Didymus, worked with four high-level female hockey players over nine months, using a CBT technique called cognitive restructuring to help them identify what put them under pressure, understand how they responded emotionally, and then consider more helpful alternative responses. The results were immediate: things that they had viewed as threats, players began to see instead as challenges, resulting in more positive emotions and higher satisfaction with their performance. source
CBT will aid the person in identifying what could be considered automatic negative thoughts, which influence mood and mindset. These thoughts seem to be automatic and impulsive. But through CBT, people can discern said thoughts and restructure them into a more realistic and positive train of thought. CBT techniques for anxiety modify the ramifications of anxiety-riddled thoughts into realistic, objective, and helpful outcomes. Though it was originally designed to treat depression, its uses have been expanded to include the treatment of a number of mental health conditions, including anxiety,[5][6] alcohol and drug use problems source
Self reflexion on emotions, thoughts and actions on a regular basis as a coping strategy against anxiety
The athlete should reflect after each session as this may induce a positive mental state. The practitioner should recreate a competitive environment and project himself (Shaw, 2005). By doing this the athlete will be more prepared to deal with situations he/she they try to hide from.
The emotions carousel designed by Nous sommes vivants / We are alive is designed to address anxiety : from eco anxiety to performance anxiety in sports. A tool to be used to increase team performance in companies.
To know more (french) here. To experience it here Discovery sessions coming up soon.
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