Somatic anxiety was a second factor that may affect an athlete’s performance. Somatic anxiety (SA) was defined by Liebert & Morris 1967; Martens et al., 1990; Vickers & Williams (2007) as an individual’s awareness to anxiety that her or she may be experiencing and the physical symptoms that occur. Few of many symptoms associated with somatic anxiety (SA) include increased blood pressure, shortness of breath, clammy hands, muscle tension, choking, sweating and having butterflies in the stomach (Morris, Davis & Hutchings, 1981 p. 541; Vickers & Williams 2007; Fullerton 2007). Another way to measure anxiety was with The Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (Smith et al,; Humara, 1999). This tool assessed and measured the correlation between somatic …show more content…
anxiety and performance. To truly witness the full effects anxiety has on an athlete’s performance, research requires the focus of cognitive anxiety (also known as worry was defined in a study by Joan N.
Vickers and A. Mark Williams; Liebert & Morris, 1967: Martens et al., 1990, Taylor (p. 144) as a mental component when athletes become anxious they begin to think negatively about their current and future performances) and self-confidence. Somatic anxiety was a key component when assessing the true effects that it has on an athlete’s performance (Brustad & Wiggins, 1996). Brustad and Wiggins (1996) tested their theory on a group of 91 athletes. The athletes were between the ages of 14 to 36 years old that participated in a variety of sports: soccer, swimming, and track and field. Those who scored higher on self-confidence and scored lower in CA and SA found perceived their overall anxiety as facilitative (Wiggins & Brustad, 1996). Kirby and Liu (1999) found that athletes who participate in individual sports, such as track and field, have a lower self-confidence and higher levels of SA than those athletes who partake in team sports such as basketball and volleyball. The same holds true for figure skaters. The skaters experienced a substantial amount of CA and SA before their individual competitions in contrast to a team competition. The responsibility that was placed on the athletes in a team sport differed than the responsibility that an individual sport athlete may have (Martin & Halls, …show more content…
1997). The Competitive Sport Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) (Smith et al., 2006) stated that the relationship between CA, SA, and self-confidence have different results due to gender.
A female’s self-confidence was lower than a male’s while their SA was higher than males. The location of a game, a meet or competition was taken into account. By having an away game or meet SA levels increased while their self-confidence was lower (Kavouras, Kenefick & Thuot, 1998). Thuot (et al., 1990) states it does not matter if an adolescent is a male or female, that CA and SA levels was higher while self-confidence levels were significantly lower. Males’ CA and SA was strongly affected by their perception of their opponent’s skills. Factors that determine the levels of CA and SA of a female relied on how prepared they felt prior to performing and how important it was they do
well. Taylor (1987) examined the measures of psychological attributes in comparison to individual athletes at games or meets throughout the year and at the end of the season. The experiment took place at The University of Colorado consisting of 6 Division I sports; 84 varsity athletes-- 63 males and 21 females. Division I is the highest level of competition at a collegiate level. The 6 sports are Alpine Ski racing (8 males and 6 females), Nordic ski racing (7 males and 5 females), tennis (7 males and 7 females), basketball (13 males), cross country (7 males and 5 females) and track and field (19 males). Each season the coach made the decision of where each athlete stood in comparison to rank within the team. As a result, all three factors related to the team’s success found SA and CA occur simultaneously due to results of Dodson (1908) and Oxendine (1970). For a higher success rate SA needs to be at a higher level. For a more successful performance, generalized motor control is required (Oxendine, 1970).
As stated in “Investigating Coed Sports Ability to Encourage Inclusion and Equality”, “Females experienced increased self-confidence and pride.” Moreover, when athletes compete with the opposite sex, their skills are bettered. When players realize their skill set has increased as a result, their self-confidence is boosted. Self-confidence is one of the most important things needed to play sports. An athlete can be very talented but if he does not
Smith, R. E., Smoll, F. L., & Cumming, S. P. (2009). Motivational climate and changes in young athletes’ achievement goal orientations. Motivation and Emotion, 33(2), 173-183.
Wang, J., Marchant, D. B., Morris, T., & Gibbs, P. (2004). Self-consciousness and trait anxiety as predictors of choking in sport. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 7(2), 174-185.
...ntial stressors when competing. According to Nicholls & Polman (2007), the capability to cope with stress plays a significant part in how well an athlete performs during and out of competition. In line with this research, the self-efficacy construct has been found to impact how an individual appraises a situation and the corresponding way in which they cope. Self-efficacy can be defined as an individual’s beliefs about their ability to attain a certain outcome which is further expressed in their views about their capacity to execute a specific behavior or task. Since stress is a consistent and defining variable in sports and life outside of sports, it is crucial that athletes develop ways to successfully cope with stress and effectively implement these methods in order to avoid negative effects in competition and in life (Nicholls, Polman, Levy, & Borkoles, 2010).
A student athlete faces adversity on a daily basis. With facing adversity a lot of times comes stress, and with stress anxiety can start to become a huge factor on how the student athlete performs. When speaking of performing, that’s on and off the field tasks. Student athletes are known to have many responsibilities. A problem many student athletes face is managing all their responsibilities while not feeling overwhelmed. Once the pressure of trying to manage all the responsibilities a student athlete might have begins to weigh down on him or her, that’s when one with anxiety can start to lose the “it” factor that allows them to perform.
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.
Existing psychological literature on the aspects of resistance training provides some insight into areas of mental health and sport psychology (Stone, 2009). This includes psychological well-being, self-concept, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and self-worth. Additionally, the well-being of the players includes the mental and physical preparation for a season. Psychological skills that may serve athletes and others participating in resistance training includes: goal setting, relaxation, concentration, imagery, and ritualization (Ogilvie, 1995). The research in the areas of sports science has evolved over the past few years with the emergence of new techniques that help players train to improve performance. Upcoming studies in this area of sports science advocate the necessity of implementation of a sports program that focus on resistance training based on the sports program three metabolic pathways to improve anxiety and
In addition, athletes put a lot of pressure on themselves became they are always being assessed by their opponents, teammates, coaches and spectators. The athlete wants to push themselves so that they can please their audience and not looked down upon if they do something wrong. This may lead to increased competitive anxiety, and there are three areas associated with competitive anxiety. First is cognitive anxiety, which is constant thoughts about failure. Next is somatic anxiety, and this is the awareness of physical symptoms and increased negative arousal. Finally, prior to and during competitions self-confidence is usually an indicator of low competitive anxiety and is normally related to higher performance. Athletes seeking victory should be cautious of their inner perfectionism because if it turns negative it can lead to mental and physical health risks (Stoeber et al., 2007, ¶
Psychology is the scientific study of how people behave, think and feel. Psychologists study a broad ranging discipline which incorporates both the scientific study of human behaviour as well as its biological, cognitive, and social bases, along with the systematic application of this knowledge applied to specific problems (McLeod, 2011). However, as for sports psychology, this can be defined as an interdisciplinary science that draws on knowledge from many related fields such as biomechanics, physiology, kinesiology and psychology. Furthermore, it involves the study of how psychological factors can affect an individual’s performance, alongside how participation in both exercise and sport can affect psychological and physical factors (Amezdroz, 2010).
In our society today it seems like sports rule the land. Everywhere we look, there is some kind of sporting event going on or being televised. Almost everyone could be considered a fan of at least one sport. Some people follow sports like a religion. With such an increased focus on sports, the athlete's performances are put under a microscope. This puts more pressure on athletes to give a winning performance. No longer do athletes play for fun, they play to win. This isn't happening just on the professional level; it is happening on all levels of sport. From little league to backyard football, the goal is to win at all cost. With this increase pressure, athletes are looking for more and more ways to better their performance. One such way, which is now gaining popularity, is Sports Psychology. Though this isn't a new field, its popularity is just beginning to take off. There is still a lot of skepticism about the validity or worth while of the practices used. The following is a review of a number of articles that outline different studies done that show how athletes can improve their performances. The articles were found using a database search of PsychInfo. Keywords such as increased performance, psychological practices, and sports were used to narrow the search.
Tenenbaum G. & Eklund R. C. (2007) ‘The Handbook of Sport Psychology’ 3rd edition, John Wiley and sons inc. New Jersey.
Sports psychology continues to evolve in order to ensure that comprehensive and evidence-based psychological services are available for athletes and teams. Giving athletes an understanding of their psychological functioning, and building the ability to implement a range of psychological strategies in competition enables athletes to both execute their skills and thrive under pressure as they strive to reach their performance potential.
The researchers wanted to see “the relation of verbal aggressiveness and state anxiety (somatic, cognitive, and self-confidence)” between coaches and athletes in a sex-specific sport such as volleyball (Bekiari et al., 2006, p. 630). Results examining both sexes showed males have higher levels of somatic anxiety due to the verbal aggressiveness of their coaches compared to female volleyball players (Bekiari et al., 2006). These results could be due to the kind of training and competitiveness, but it still shows how the use of language can have different effects on athletes nonetheless. Additional research done by Julie Masterson, Lisa Davies, and Gerald Masterson showed that coaches should “use positive instruction rather than negative feedback” to encourage their athletes (2006, p. 41). This backs the ideas that verbal aggression is harmful and the research “consistently shows verbal aggression may be associated with negative outcomes and learned helplessness,” two aspects that can be seen in sports that are contributed to the language that is used (Bekiari et al., 2006, p.
Self-confidence is needed for success in sports. However, success is also essential in the enhancement of self-confidence in competitive sporting. This confirms that there is a great correlation between self-confidence and success in sports performances. Self-confidence is the degree of personal belief and trust in one's abilities, judgments, traits, strategies, and qualities. Self-confidence can be attained through the accumulation of unique achievements across the different competitive
Hatzigeorgiadis, Antonis, and Stuart J. H. Biddle. “Negative Self-Talk During Sport Performance: Relationships with Pre-Competition Anxiety and Goal-Performance Discrepancies.” Journal of Sport Behavior 31.3 (2008): 237-253. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 27 Oct. 2011.