stress managment Flashcards
(22 cards)
1
Q
stress
stress managementt
A
- A negative response of the body to a threat causing anxiety.
- One of the most common emotions
- Felt before and during competition
- Managing and controlling stress is key for top performers
- Can cause feelings of apprehension and anxiety
- Performers may not have the ability to cope with the situation and experience both cognitive and somatic effects.
2
Q
positive stress
stress management
A
- Surprisingly, not always negative
- When you realise your going to win, you get a sense of euphoria and a feeling of internal satisfaction
- Eustress – A positive response of the body to a threat.
- In extreme sports, performers may seek more difficult challenges to increase this feeling (e.g. increasing heights).
- The experience of eustress can happen when a response to a threat or a difficult challenge is overcome
- Can increase confidence and motivation.
3
Q
stressors
A
- Cognitive Effects of stress - Psychological factors
- Somatic Effects of stress - Physiological factors
4
Q
examples of stressors
A
- Injury
- Importance of match
- playing/competing against good opponents
- Pressure of being watched by significant others, coach or large crowd
5
Q
stressors
A
- The stress experienced is the result of stressors and it can be positive or negative, depending on how the performer views their own ability.
- Example: 3000m runner lining up to begin a race.
- Positive Response - Runner believes they have trained well and want to compete/challenge themselves against top class athletes (eustress)
- Negative Response - Athlete may begin to doubt their ability and not wish to let their coach down (stress)
6
Q
cogntive stress (psychological)
A
- Negative thoughts and feelings
- Irrational thinking of the inability to cope with the demands of the situation
- Loss of concentration – linked to a process called attentional narrowing.
- Attentional Narrowing - as arousal and anxiety levels increase, the ability to take in information or cues from the environment is reduced.
- Player may experience feelings associated with a fear of failure and begin to worry about letting others down
7
Q
somatic stress (physiological)
A
- Physical response to stress
- Increased heart rate/increased sweating
- May suffer from nausea/feeling of sickness
- One of the most damaging responses is muscular tension.
- Muscular tension - May cause a weak or inaccurate attempt
8
Q
Cognitive stress management techniques
A
- thought stopping
- positive self talk
- imagery
- visualisation
- mental rehersal
- attentional control and cue utilisation
- sttention wastage
- attentional control
- psychological skills training
9
Q
thought stopping
Cognitive stress management techniques
A
- When irrational/negative thoughts occur, the performer can use a learned action or trigger to remove them.
- The learned physical action can be a simple movement or rehearsed action
- It enables the performer to redirect their attention to the task in hand and not the negative thought
- Example - Cricketer may rehearse a shot in between deliveries to refocus their attention
10
Q
positive self talk
Cognitive stress management techniques
A
- **Performer replaces negative thoughts with positive ones. **
- Helps player focus on a tactic or instruction to overcome a weakness
- Example - Badminton player who has missed some over head shots may focus on their footwork in order to get into the right position
- May overcome a bad habit
- Example - A golfer who constantly hits the ball to the left, may change the grip in order to overcome this
11
Q
imagery
Cognitive stress management techniques
A
- Can recreate a successful image of the action from a past performance.
- The player can recall the feel of the actual movement in the mind
- Imagery can relate to the emotions associated with that successful action
- Example - The elation of scoring a goal in a previous game can build confidence for the current situation
- Some performers use imagery to avoid stressful situations by imagining a calm situation to escape from stress
12
Q
visualisation
Cognitive stress management techniques
A
- An image of the skill is perfected when performing the skill in training.
- The image is then locked in’ and relieved when the skill is performed for real
- A player could visualise themselves performing the skill in a pressure situation or when facing aggression from the opposition
- Having had this experience the player may have more confidence when this happens in a real situation
- Can be internal or external.
- External - An image that concentrates on the environment almost as if the player were watching himself on tv
- Details of the pitch and opponent may be used here
- Internal - Looks at the emotions and feelings involved in the skill, such as kinesthesis or the satisfaction gained from completing the skill
13
Q
mental rehersal
Cognitive stress management techniques
A
- Process of going over movements of a task in the mind before the action takes place.
- Especially useful for athlete about to perform a sequence of skills - such as a gymnastics routine
- Performer is less likely to forget the movement if they are rehearsed in order
- This can lead to a decrease in stress and anxiety
14
Q
attentional control and cue utilisation
Cognitive stress management techniques
A
- Stress can cause a performer to lose concentration and focus on the incorrect stimuli from the environment. As stress and arousal increase, the ability to take in information reduces (Easterbrook, 1959).
- This is know as attentional narrowing
- The effect of emotion on cue utilisation suggest that;
- ‘The ability to process information is directly linked to the level of arousal’ (definition of cue utilisation)
- Low levels of stress and arousal - Process plenty of cues from the environment , When lots of stimuli present, the performer may pick out the incorrect or irrelevant cues
- High levels of stress and arousal - Only limited information can be processed and this may cause important information to be missed
- Attentional Wastage - A problem known as attentional wastage (reduces level of performance as important information has been ignored)
- Moderate levels of stress and arousal - The performer picks up the relevant information and performance can be successful
15
Q
attentional wastage
Cognitive stress management techniques
A
- To avoid attentional wastage. The performer could choose an attention style that suits the situation
- By using Selective Attention, the performer can control the style of attention required at any one moment and pick up relevant information.
- There are 4 styles of attention that can be used in a sporting context
16
Q
attentional control
Cognitive stress management techniques
A
- Broad - When a number of cues can be identified
- Narrow - When it is best to focus on one or two cues
- External - When information is drawn from the environment
- Internal - When the information is used form within the performer
17
Q
combination of attentional control
Cognitive stress management techniques
A
- Broad, External - Picking up a wide range of cues from the environment.
- e.g. position of players in a game.
- Broad, Internal - Mental analysis of numerous cues.
- e.g. analyse game and plan tactics.
- Narrow, External - Focus is directed to one environmental cue.
- e.g. golfer concentrating on putting into hole.
- Narrow, Internal - Mental practice of one ore two important cues.
- e.g. concentrate on weakness.
- If the correct style is chosen, at the right time, stress can be lowered and performance is enhanced.
18
Q
psychological skills training
Cognitive stress management techniques
A
- The performer can train and practise using any of the methods explained in cognitive stress management techniques.
- Many professional clubs employ a sports psychologist to do just that - see Steve Peters or Bill Beswick
19
Q
Somatic Stress Management
Somatic Stress Management
A
- biofeedback
- progressive muscle relaxation
- centering `
20
Q
biofeedback
Somatic Stress Management
A
- Using a measuring device to help the athlete recognise the physical changes that will happen when under stress.
- EG - Measuring heart rate
- Galvanic skin response that measures increases in electrical activity when sweating
- Electromyography that measures muscular tension with electrodes taped to the skin
- The idea is that the performer learns to recognise when such physical symptoms are happening.
- They will eventually not require a measuring device to recognise this
- As soon as the signs are recognises, the performer can then use techniques to calm down and reduce stress
21
Q
progressive muscle relaxation
Somatic Stress Management
A
- A physical technique, often conducted with the use of recorded instructions.
- Performer alternates between a state of tension in a group of muscle and a state of relaxation in those same muscles
- The muscles that are tensed and relaxed are worked from the periphery of the body to the core
- E.g. the muscles of the arms, shoulders and legs will be worked first until the abdominal muscles are utilised.
22
Q
centering
Somatic Stress Management
A
- A form of breathing control.
- The performer learns to relax the shoulders and chest which taking controlled, deep breathes
- E.g – a games players taking a penalty kick may adopt this technique to help them calm down in a stressful situation.
