Stress Managment Flashcards
What is stress
a negative response of the body to a threat causing anxiety
What is Eustress
A positive response of the body to a threat
What are cognitive effects of stress
Anxiety
Fear
Aggression
What are somatic effects of stress
Sweating
Shaking
Feeling sick
What are stressors
They cause stress, could be:
■ Injury
■ Important games
■ Very good opponents
■ Rewards such as Prize money, contracts
■ Fear of Failure- being watched by significant others, role models, scouts
What is cognitive stress
Cognitive:
■ Psychological- Negative thoughts and feelings
■ Irrational thoughts
■ Can cause attentional narrowing (less information taken in and processed) this can be ok for the experienced performer who’s base response is the correct one but a novice doesn’t have the correct motor programmes developed
What is somatic stress
Somatic:
■ Physiological- increased HR, Temp, Sweating, Nausea, Muscular Tension
What are cognitive methods to reduce stress
Thought stopping
Positive self talk
Imagery
Visualisation
Mental rehearsal
Somatic stress relievers
Biofeedback
■ Using a device to help recognise the physical changes that happen under stress
■ Measure: Heart rate, Breathing Rate, Muscle Tension, Temperature or electrical activity
■ This helps the performer to recognise when they are stressed and they can use techniques to calm down
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Centering
Breathing control
How does stress affect the amount of information absorbed
Under stress you focus on less cues from the environment and miss key cues affecting decision making known as Attentional Wastage resulting in reduced performance
■ At lower levels of stress more information is absorbed and performance successful
What is Niddefers model of Attentional focus
Must choose the right attentional style for the right situation. This allows unrequired information to be filtered and relevant information focussed on
The 4 styles in sporting contexts are:
– Broad – attending to several stimuli with wide vision.
– Narrow – focusing on one or two cues.
– Internal – inner thoughts.
– External – looking at the environment.
What are the four attention styles in sport
External
Internal
Broad
Narrow
What is an external, broad attention style
Many cues concerning the environment- Fast paced, open Game Environments
What is an internal Broad attention style
Many cues concerning the performer
What is an external, narrow attention style
1 or 2 cues concerning the environment- Concentrate on specific objects, limited cues
