Stress, Eustress and Stressors
Stress is the response of an individual to a perceived threat, and is one of the most common emotions in sport, occurring both just before and during competition.
- Stress is not always negative – eustress is a positive response to a threat (e.g. the thrill and excitement of an extreme sport), while a negative response is simply termed stress
- A stressor is the cause of stress in sport – examples include playing an important match, facing a highly-rated opponent, playing for an important reward, fear of letting down a team, or pressure from a coach, spectators or the performer's own expectations
- Stress responses can be classified as cognitive (psychological, e.g. worry, negative thoughts, loss of concentration) or somatic (physiological, e.g. increased heart rate, sweating, muscle tension) – both can be positive (eustress) or negative depending on the situation and how the performer copes
Cognitive Stress Management Techniques
Cognitive stress management techniques target the psychological, mental side of stress and include:
- Thought stopping – using a learned physical action or cue to interrupt and remove a negative or irrational thought
- Positive self-talk – replacing negative thoughts with positive ones to build confidence and focus
- Imagery – creating a mental image of successful performance to recall the feel of a skill
- Visualisation – using an internal (the performer's own viewpoint) or external (as if watching on TV) mental image to rehearse a skill or situation before performing it
- Mental rehearsal – mentally going through the movements of a task or skill, in the correct order and sequence, without physically performing it
Somatic Stress Management Techniques
Somatic stress management techniques target the physiological, physical side of stress and include:
- Biofeedback – using equipment (e.g. galvanic skin response or heart rate monitors) to help a performer recognise physical signs of stress, so they can learn to consciously control and calm them
- Progressive muscle relaxation – a physical technique where the performer tenses and then releases and relaxes different muscle groups progressively throughout the body, working from the periphery towards the core
- Centering – a form of breathing control where the performer relaxes the chest and abdominal muscles while directing attention away from the pressure of the situation, using slow, controlled breaths – often used just before a skill such as a penalty or free kick
Attentional Control, Narrowing and Wastage
As arousal and anxiety increase, a performer's ability to take in and process information can be affected, described using the concepts of attentional narrowing and attentional wastage.
- Attentional narrowing – at high arousal, the width of attention (the amount of information being processed) is reduced, which can cause important cues to be missed
- Attentional wastage (Nideffer) – occurs when incorrect information is processed and important cues are ignored, because the performer fails to filter their attention appropriately. At moderate arousal, the performer tends to pick up relevant information and perform successfully; at very low arousal, too much irrelevant information can cause confusion
- Nideffer identified four attentional styles, based on width (broad/narrow) and direction (external/internal): broad external (picking up a wide range of environmental cues, e.g. a midfielder assessing player positions), broad internal (mentally analysing several pieces of information or tactics at once), narrow external (focusing on one specific environmental cue, e.g. a golfer focusing on the hole), and narrow internal (mentally rehearsing one or two specific cues, e.g. concentrating on correcting a weakness)
- Choosing and switching between the correct attentional style at the right time is a key psychological skill that can be developed through practice