Stress

What is Stress?

At some point or other we have all said, or heard others say, that we are ‘stressed’.  We talk about stress as if it is any form of discomfort in which we feel we can’t cope, but in actuality it is a process which is explained by Cashmore (2008) as a:

 ‘Constraining or propelling force or pressure that causes a significant change in a system’

A certain stimuli may cause stress for one athlete but not for another, and this is due to the individuals perception of the demands being placed on them and if they feel they are capable of coping with these demands.  This is modelled in a diagram taken from Weinberg & Gould (2011), which is displayed below. 

(Taken from Gill, 2014)

Stage 1 - The Environmental Demand

Essentially this is what the environment is asking of you.  It is may be either a physiological (e.g. you are about to run 100m) or a psychological demand (e.g. pressure to score a penalty).

Stage 2 - Perception of the Demand

Each person views each situation differently.  For example, one athlete may be confident in running 100m because he thinks he can win and the crowd are a motivator, but another may feel he isn’t good enough to run and feels pressure from the crowd.  This is what makes the athlete think there is an imbalance between the task and his capability, and this is heavily influenced by whether the athlete has a low or high trait anxiety (highly trait anxious athletes are more likely to perceive the situation as imbalanced). 

Stage 3 - Stress Response

This is the athlete’s physiological and psychological response to the situation, and is dependant upon the previous stage.  If the performer is highly trait anxious, then state anxiety will increase and they experience symptoms of cognitive and somatic anxiety (e.g., becoming apprehensive and increased heart rate).

Stage 4 – Behavioural Consequences

After going through the previous stages of the model, the athlete will display a resultant behaviour.  It’s key to highlight at this point that the anxiety felt by the performer may be facilitative or debilitative (see blog post on arousal), so even if they do feel threatened, their performance may still improve.  How the athlete copes in the situation and whether they are successful or not affects how they will perceive the task in the future, and so the cycle continues.

(Weinberg & Gould, 2011)

This cycle is important because it allows us to identify what stressors are placed on the performer, but more importantly how the performer deals with them, and their resultant behaviour.  This way you can develop some form of stress management.

What causes Stress?

There are thousands of different sources of stress, and many different psychologists have worked on classifying these sources into categories, but they can best be divided into situational and personal (Weinberg & Gould, 2011).  The importance of the event is the first situational factor identified by Weinberg & Gould (2011) which leads to stress.  When considering this it’s important to remember that while an event may not seem significant, its importance will differ from competitor to competitor, and the more important a competitor deems the situation to be the higher their stress levels.  The second situational factor which most contributes to stress is uncertainty of the impending event (Hodge, 2004).  If the performer doesn’t know what to expect (e.g., they don’t know the starting line-up really close to the game start time, or it’s their first time competing in the event) then their stress levels will be high.  It doesn’t have to uncertainty relating to the sporting situations specifically though, it could be any uncertainty they’re feeling in other aspects of their life at that moment. 

The primary cause of stress is trait anxiety, as highly trait anxious individuals are more likely to deem a situation as threatening and therefore feel stress.  Hodge (2004) believes that self-esteem is another factors which brings about stress as athletes who don’t feel confident about a situation (e.g. it’s a new experience, or they have low self-confidence) are more likely to experience state anxiety.  Therefore, coaches should seek to build their athletes self-esteem as a way of coping with anxiety.  The final major personal source of stress is social physique anxiety, which is when people become anxious when they feel their physique (body) is being evaluated (Weinberg & Gould, 2007).  Athletes with high social physique anxiety are more likely to experience stress and cognitive anxiety relating to their body; specifically in situations where their fitness is being evaluated (for example, the first time they are on the starting line-up of a football match after coming back from an injury).  A recent survey found that 12.9% of the exercise participants surveyed exercise in private, whilst 9.7% fear being judged by others, and 11 % felt embarrassed or self-conscious due to body image (Brudzynski & Ebben, 2010).  This has a negative impact on performance, as it may cause some athletes to avoid the situation completely, which was evidenced in the survey identified above.

Coping Mechanisms

Athletes who often become stressed in sporting situations will be able to identify why this happens and develop what is called a coping mechanism. Lazarus & Folkman (1984) define coping as ‘a process of constantly changing cognitive and behavioural efforts to manage specific external and/or internal demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding the resources of the person’.  More simply, it is changing the way you think and act to help you manage with stressors that are being placed on you which you find too difficult. Weinberg & Gould (2007) outline five key guidelines for reducing stress in an athlete:

1. Recognise signs of increased arousal and anxiety.

2. Identify the optimal combination of arousal related emotions needed for best performance.

3. Recognise how personal and situational factors interact to influence arousal, anxiety and performance.

4. Tailor coaching and instructional practices to meet the needs of individuals in order to reduce stress and anxiety.

5. Develop confidence in performers to help them cope with increased stress.

It’s key that athletes seek support from others (for example, a coach) when they feel stress may have a negative impact on their performance, but by adopting all of these strategies an athlete will be able to focus on the goal, stop panicking and in turn reduce the anxiety and stress you feel into a positive performance effector.

Optimising Sports Performance

So far, we’ve focused on how stressors placed on the athlete have a negative effect on performance when they perceive the environment to be imbalanced.  But some athletes actually experience eustress, which is a positive reaction to stressors placed on them improving their performance (Weinberg & Gould, 2011).  For this reason, some athletes actively seek stressful environments as they know it will improve their performance.  Anxiety and stress is necessary for athletes to reach their peak performance, as it means they are both physiologically and psychologically activated, and alert, giving them a competitive edge.  Athletes need to find a balance that suits them, where the amount of anxiety and stress is not detrimental to their performance, but is enough to engage and motivate them to complete the task successfully.

References:

Brudzynski, L & Ebben, W. (2010) Body Image as  a Motivator and Barrier to Exercise Participation, International Journal of Exercise Science [e-journal], 3(1).  Available through: http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1172&context=ijes [Accessed 17^th March 2014]

Cashmore, E. (2008) Sport and Exercise Psychology: The Key Concepts (2^nd Ed.) Routledge: London.

Gill, A. (2014) Anxiety/Arousal/Stress Relationship [Lecture] FdSc Sport Coaching, Chesterfield College, March 2014.

Hodge, K. (2004) The Complete Guide to Sport Motivation. A&C Black: London.

Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal and coping. Springer: New York.

Weinberg, R. & Gould, D. (2011) Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology (5^th Edition). Human Kinetics: Leeds.