6.14 Stress Management

Question 1

what is stress

Answer 1

stress can be defined as an individuals physical response to prepare the body for action when threat is perceived

Question 2

types of stress

Answer 2

• eustress = positive responses to stressful situations. rises to challenge they are facing.
• distress = negative responses to stressful situations. is threatened and finding it difficult to cope with

Question 3

types of responses to stress

Answer 3

• somatic = responses are physiological e.g. increased HR
• cognitive = responses are psychological e.g. anxiety

Question 4

somatic strategies

Answer 4

• biofeedback = using equipment e.g. HR monitor (effective but time-consuming)
• progressive muscular relaxation = concentrate on each muscle group (tense, hold, relax)
• breathing control = becomes less distracted + is able to focus on task
• centring = breath in deeply and as breath out chant a phrase about how you’d like to perform

Question 5

cognitive strategies

Answer 5

• mental rehearsal = going over performance in head
• visualisation = the learning of a skill and locking it in your mind to be gone over when needed
• imagery = recalling successful previous performance
• positive self talk = verbally reminding self of key points in movement + telling self can achieve
• negative thought stopping = used with positive self talk

Question 6

Nideffer’s model of attentional focus

Answer 6

• suggested that different activities require different types of attentional focus.
  e.g. invasion games require broad focus, whereas net games require narrow style.
  performers required to to apply variety of attentional styles.
  having attentional focus + correct attentional style will reduce the level of stress experienced by performer + therefore performance improves

Question 7

4 attentional styles that could arise

Answer 7

• broad-internal = many cues concerning performer
• narrow-internal = 1-2 cues concerning performer
• broad-external = many cues in environment
• narrow-external = 1-2 cues in environment

Question 7

2 dimensions of attentional focus

Answer 7

• broad-narrow concerned with how many cues are being focused on (broad = many, narrow = 1-2)
• internal-external concerned with where focus is being placed. (internal = thoughts + feelings, external = environmental)