Stress management Flashcards
SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY
what is stress
psychological or physiological response to demand placed on an individual
a stimulus known as a stressor can be external or internal
what does a positive stress response do
- increases HR leading to an increase of adrenaline
- need to be alert
- increases o2 supply
- improves performance
what does a negative stress response do
- increases anxiety
- negatively impact performance
what are causes stress
- coaches behaviour
- audience present
- learning new skills
- performing skill with a risk of injury
- poor performance
- suffering from long term injury
4 somatic techniques to reduce stress
athlete being aware of how their body feels during stressful situations and how they can positively alter those feelings
- progressive muscular relaxation
- biofeedback
- centring technique
- breathing control
progressive muscular relaxation
- creates a sense of full body relaxation
- involves major muscle groups (individually being maximally contracted hen relaxed)
- helps athlete interpret tension and release tension within muscles
biofeedback
measures athletes response to stressors, by measuring these factors when leading up to a competition:
- heart rate
- breathing rate
- skin temp
- muscle tension
- this information provides a real time feedback to athlete about their stress levels and how they can control it
- monitor how effective stress management techniques are
centring technique
- requires athlete to focus on the centre of their body
- can be achieved by paying attention to breathing and where movement is engaging from
- focus on rhythmic movements
- direct bodies energy to the movements location rather than stressors
breathing control
- beneficial to take control of breathing to reduce stress
- increasing depths of breaths and reduce frequency of breaths
- provides distraction from external stressors
- increases o2 supply, reduces heart rate and reduces stress on body
6 cognitive techniques to reduce stress
focus on using the power of the brain to reduce anxiety experienced
- positive self talk
- stopping negative thoughts
- mental rehearsal
- imagery
- visualisation
- attentional control + cue utilisation
positive self talk
- repeat positive sayings to increase self efficacy
- help athlete frame experience in a positive way
- remind athlete they are prepared and the feeling of anxiety is normal
- beneficial for performance
stopping negative thoughts
- telling yourself stop when thinking negatively
- needs to be practised before it can be effective
mental rehearsal
- imagine themselves perform successfully while under a stressor in an effective way
- can be used at anytime
- an reduce levels of stress as allows athlete to feel prepared
- if used correctly it can have a positive impact on performance
imagery
- allow performer to put themselves in the situation outside of their current state
- imagine themselves doing past successful experiences
- imagine they are relaxing in a comforting place to the individual
- can utilise all senses
- can be performed internally or externally
visualisation
- act of living out a image in the mind an really believe in it’s ability to be true
- visualises performance going well to the point they feel a physical sensation (excitement)
- visualising winning can increase self efficacy and reduce anxiety
- works with mental rehearsal to imagine performance start to finish
attentional control + cue utilisation
- if these are adopted it can help performer maintain performance
- helps direct athletes stress into something else important. (e.g. tennis player focusing on ball rather than audience)
- reduce stress
- works toward a successful performance
