More handpicked essays just for you.
Essays on how anxiety affects sport performance
Stress ,arousal and anxiety in sports
Writing an essay about effects of anxiety on athletes
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Many athletes would agree that they have felt butterflies in their stomach or a sudden rush of adrenaline before an important game. This feeling can either translate into legendary performances or monumental failures. According to Sharon D. Hoar (2007), to fully comprehend anxiety’s effect on performance, one must understand the discrimination between two unique sets of sources: trait and state anxiety, and cognitive and somatic anxiety. Anxiety symptoms are numerous and unique to every athlete. Hoar suggests that athletes might report cognitive symptoms (eg. Inability to focus), somatic symptoms (eg. Sweaty palms), or both. The author discusses a variety of sources of anxiety and argues that it can have both positive and negative effects on performance. Anxiety has a significant affect on athletes and garners numerous research studies pertaining to performance.
Anxiety, like motivation, occurs from a combination of personal, situational, mental, and physical factors. First, Hoar (2007) describes trait anxiety as a consistent part of a person’s disposition, whereas state anxiety changes depending on the situation. Second, the author posits that cognitive anxiety can affect mental processes which translate into the reduced ability to concentrate, conversely somatic anxiety affects athletes physiologically, often resulting in symptoms like clammy hands and a racing heartbeat.
Hoar (2007) discusses that athletes often perceive anxiety differently based on situational factors. These factors include: sport type, team role, and importance of event. For example, an athlete might feel more anxiety before an event if their role on the team is substantial (ie. Captain) or if a game is at a pivotal point in the season. Personally, I pe...
... middle of paper ...
...on to discover possible reasons for optimal performance at these competitive state anxiety levels. Further, I would conduct comparative analysis between each athletes’ optimal level of anxiety and their statistics from their previous season, with the goal of providing insight about which level of anxiety translates into better performance.
Anxiety is undoubtedly an issue that affects almost all athletes. This research will provide insight into why athletes perform best at varying levels of anxiety, and also intends to contribute valuable information about which of these levels translates into the best performance. Knowledge of this study will no doubt aid in the progression of anxiety research, and also will provide valuable information to athletes about the effects of anxiety, more specifically that anxiety does not always have to translate to poor performance.
Due to the stressful and high pressure nature of this achievement context in academies, the question of how to ensure athletes realize their sporting potential without experiencing athletic burnout has become increasingly important (Isoard-Gautheur, Guillet-Ducas & Duda, 2012). Research into this process has highlighted various factors such as perfectionism (Lemyre, Hall & Roberts, 2008; Gould, Tuffey, Udry & Loehr, 1997) and stress-coping techniques (Coakley, 1992) as being important in athletic burnout, but has also shown certain motivational factors ( ) to play an influential ...
However, what this argument does not take into account is that athletes have an abundance of pressure put on them that most non-athletes don’t ever experience. Hence, the saying, “go hard or go home”. A recent study emphasizes this fact as McClatchy notes, ”The researchers monitored mood levels of 465 collegiate athletes over three years and found 6.3 percent of the athletes met the criteria for clinically significant depression and 24 percent were considered ‘clinically relevant’ “ (2016). Studies like these prove that athletes are not blind to the idea of depression, but rather experience this disorder themselves. Anxiety has a huge role in depression. As sportsperson, there is constant effort to become an awe-inspiring player. As the stakes of the game raise, so does the anxiety. Some want a scholarship, some want to show off what they offer to a team that got a scholarship, and some are professionals. Regardless of whether it's grade school sport or a professional sport, failing at personal goals one set is down right depressing. Kearns and Hwang state that, ”While it’s not clear whether the source of challenges to a student-athlete's mental well-being is the same as those non-athletes, collegiate athletes are known to encounter unique stressor that the general population doesn’t have to deal with, such as the demands, relationships with coaches and missed scheduled classes” (2014). Pressure is something everyone experiences. However, athletes experience some of the same pressure that of non-athletes and then some. Being on a sports team is demanding to time and the idea of being “superior”. In athletics, coaches are everything. For example, If a coach likes how a person attributes as a team player, then that person will get a chance to shine. However, if the coach is not very fond of one, then the chances of opportunities are not very
The age of overwhelming strength and stamina governing sports is over, and the age of the mentally tough athlete has arrived. Athletes are no longer the superficial jocks and robots programmed to accomplish one goal, victory. Modern athletes ranging from the high school to professional levels are faced with many pressures and temptations, normally outside the realm of their sport. These pressures can inhibit an athlete’s performance substantially; therefore, the pressures need to be dealt with by psychologists. The effectiveness of sports psychology is demonstrated through the fields many theories, applications, and variety of techniques and procedures.
The goal of every coach is to create an environment in which his athletes can flourish. Performance anxiety is a coach’s worst enemy simply because it can have a negative impact both mentally and physically on athletes. The mastery approach to coaching is a cognitive-behavioral intervention designed to promote a mastery-involving motivational climate (Smith, Smoll, Cumming, 2007). How a coach handles his athletes is essential for their confidence and ability to overcome any level of performance anxiety. Critical or punitive feedback from coaches can evoke high levels of negative affect in children who fear failure and disapproval, thereby contributing to a threatening athletic environment (Smith, Smoll, Cumming, 2007).
Walker, N., Thatcher, J., & Lavallee, D. (2007). Psychological responses to injury in competitive sport: a critical review. The Journal of The Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, 174-180.
I see them as building stones for example, my freshmen year I played my first ever varsity game. If only you could imagine how nervous I was, but today you would see a complete different person. I play a lot faster, I don’t make very many mistakes any longer. All because of anxiety I second thought myself and made mistakes. It also impaired my vision, like I would be playing against a person my size, but in my mind I felt like I was playing against a NFL player. Anxiety is a mean thing and it will stop many, but the ones that overcome it will always succeed.
Creative new training methods, developed by coaches, athletes and sport scientists, are aimed to help improve the quality and quantity of athletic training ( Kellmann, 2010, p.1). However, these methods have encountered a consistent set of barriers including overtraining ( Kellmann, 2010, p.1). Due to these barriers, the need for physical and mental recovery in athletics brought an increasing attention in practice and in research ( Kellmann, 2010, p.1).
Also, this section will provide an overview of theories that have been used to clarify the relationship between anxiety and performance in athletes. In Edward’s and Hardy’s opinion, the main problem that research on the relationship between anxiety and performance has encountered is that researchers have not defined all the specific terminology that is required to understand this subject. The following operational definitions will be used for the terms anxiety and stress. “Stress is a state that results from the demands that are placed on the individual which require that person to engage in some coping behavior.” Arousal is going to be considered to be a signal to the athlete that he/ she has entered into a stressful situation and is characterized by physiological signs.
Athletic staleness and burnout is a big problem for many of today’s athletes whether they are at the amateur or professional level. The good thing about this problem that ends up in total and complete physical and emotional exhaustion is that it can be recognized when it is taking place. It can also be treated if the recognition comes at too late of a stage of the onset of staleness and burnout. But the best remedy for athletic staleness and burnout is prevention of it in the first place. There are three different models that have been used to explain the causes of athlete burnout.
Playing a sport whether its basketball, soccer, football or any other of your interest can be thrilling, and accelerating. Not only can it be fun yet physical exercise is good for the mind, body, and spirit. Therefore, as an athlete one must keep in mind that playing any sport, injury is part of life and inevitable. Research has proven from time to time that severe injuries in sports can trigger psychological mental health issues, affecting them in their athletic performance.
The relationship between arousal and performance is a vital component in the study of an athlete’s performance. As feelings of arousal are experienced (or the lack thereof) in a competitive sporting situation, the subsequent effects can be huge. One of the major principles of the arousal-performance relationship is the Inverted-U hypothesis (Baechle and Earle 2008, 168), developed by Yerkes and Dodson. According to their hypothesis, as arousal levels increase, so do the performance levels of the individual, but only to certain point (known as the ‘optimal’ point). Necessary levels of arousal are different in many situations. The ‘optimal’ level depends on the type of activity, skill level and personality of the individual. The following will detail the Inverted-U hypothesis and how this varies amongst athletes, sports and skills.
...ompetition environment. There is increasing recognition by the sports community that supporting athlete mental health is a vital aspect of competitive performance, and is as integral to success as the athlete’s physical abilities. The profession of sports psychology provides a very meaningful contribution to help facilitate athlete wellbeing and maximize the psychological skills required to compete at the highest level of competition.
However, anxiety only becomes a problem if you are not able to manage it, control it, or when it gets in the way of your daily routine. According to Kremer and Moran (2008) “one reason why we tend to get uptight before competition could be related the pressure of being observed. Spectators of any sport are constantly evaluating the skills of the athletes they are watching, and this can be extremely daunting to those who are not trained to deal effectively with this pressure.” Not wanting to fail in a match or competition can also heap more pressure on an individual when realise they are being watched and the anxiety and stress increases to
Life is full of troubles, demands, pressures and hassles—these are all factors related to stress. Stress is a state of mental or emotional tension resulting from adverse or difficult situations (Merriam-Webster). When you are in potential danger, your body responds with a “fight-or-flight” response to protect you from any harm. Situations like being robbed at gunpoint or studying last minute the night before the test can activate stress in your body. Although situations in life can increase stress, there are plenty of methods to diminish it. Methods like meditating, talking to family/friends, drinking tea, or even taking a quick nap--all of these methods are proven effective (The Franklin Institute). One method that is prominent to many is physical exercise. Exercise is considered to improve physical conditions and strength, but maintains mental fitness in the process. Although many assume that exercising is healthy, some may not be familiar of how it relieves stress in detail. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of exercise, the pros and cons must be considered. Some pros are: managing the levels of stress in your body, boosting your self-esteem, and improving learning and memory. The cons are: being time consuming and tedious, being costly and expensive, and risking injury while exercising. Let’s look at the pros of physical activity.
Since I have an extreme temper, I have gotten myself into some serious situations. When I was young, I did not know how to control my temper at all. I would get mad about every little thing imaginable, and when I got mad I put myself in some trouble. Playing sports is when I’m at my worst. I am a very competitive guy, and will do anything it takes to win.