2. Competitive Anxiety
Competition can cause athletes to react
both physically and mentally in a manner
which can negatively affect their
performance abilities. Stress, arousal and
anxiety are terms used to describe this
condition.
3. Causes of Anxiety.
Coach Expectation.
Captain’s Demands.
Team Member’s Coordination.
Facility / competition Standard.
Information overload
4. Symptoms of Anxiety:
Anxiety can be recognized on three levels
Cognitive - by particular thought process
Somatic - by physical response
Behavioral - by patterns of behavior
5. Cognitive
Indecision Sense of confusion
Feeling heavy Negative thoughts
Poor concentration Irritability
Loss of confidence Images of failure
Feeling rushed Feeling weak
6. Somatic
Increased blood pressure Pounding heart
Increased respiration rate Sweating
Clammy hands and feet Butterflies in the stomach
Adrenaline surge Dry mouth
Need to urinate Muscular tension
Tightness in neck and shoulder Trembling
Incessant talking Blushing
Pacing up and down Distorted vision
Twitching Yawning
Voice distortion Nausea
9. Relaxation
The five breath technique:
Take a deep breath and allow your face and neck to
relax as you breathe out
Take a second deep breath and allow your shoulders
and arms to relax as you breathe out
Take a third deep breath and allow your chest, stomach
and back to relax as you breathe out
Take a fourth deep breath and allow your legs and feet
to relax as you breathe out
Take a fifth deep breath and allow your whole body to
relax as you breathe out
Continue to breathe deeply for as long as you need to,
and each time you breathe out say the word 'relax' in
your mind's ear
10. Meditation for Relaxation:
“A”
Sit in a comfortable position and adopt a relaxed
posture
Pick a short focus word that has significant meaning
for you and that you associate with relaxation ( relax,
smooth, calm, easy, float,)
Slowly close your eyes
Relax all the muscles in your body
Breathe smoothly and naturally, repeating the focus
word
Be passive so that if other thoughts enter your mind,
dismiss them with, 'Oh well' and calmly return to the
focus word - do not concern yourself with how the
process is going
Continue this for 10 to 15 minutes as required.
11. “B”
Lie down on your back in a comfortable position and
close your eyes
Relax all your muscles, beginning at your feet and
progressing to your face
Breathe through your nose and become aware of your
breathing. As you breathe out, say the word "won"
silently to yourself. For example, breathe in . . . out,
"won"; in . . . out, "won"; and so on. Continue for 20
minutes. You may open your eyes to check the time, but
do not use an alarm. When you finish, lie quietly for
several minutes at first with closed eyes and later with
opened eyes.
12. How can we control Anxiety?
The 4C's:
Concentration: ability to maintain focus.
Confidence: believe in one's abilities.
Control: maintain emotional control.
Commitment: continue working to agreed
goals.
13. Concentration:
This is the mental quality to focus on the task in
hand. If the athlete lacks concentration then their
athletic abilities will not be effectively or
efficiently applied to the task. Research has
identified the following types of attention focus:
Broad Narrow continuum - the athlete focuses
on a large or small number of stimuli
Internal External continuum - the athlete focuses
on internal stimuli (feelings) or external stimuli
(ball)
14. The demand for concentration varies with
the sport:
Sustained concentration:
distance running, cycling, tennis, squash
Short bursts of concentration:
cricket, golf, shooting, athletic field events
Intense concentration:
sprinting events
15. Confidence:
Confidence results from the comparison an athlete
makes between the goal and their ability. The athlete will
have self confidence if they believe they can achieve
their goal. (You only achieve what you believe).
When an athlete has self confidence they will tend to:
persevere even when things are not going to plan, show
enthusiasm, be positive in their approach and take their
share of the responsibility in success and fail.
To improve their self confidence.
visualize previous good performance to remind them of
the look and feel
16. Self Confidence
Thoughts - positive thoughts of success
Feelings - excited, anticipation, calm, elation,
prepared
Focus - on self, on the task
Behavior - give maximum effort and commitment,
willing to take chances, positive reaction
to set backs, open to learning, take
responsibility for outcomes
17. Control:
Identifying when an athlete feels a
particular emotion and understanding the
reason for the feelings is an important
stage of helping an athlete gain emotional
control. An athlete's ability to maintain
control of their emotions in the face of
adversity and remain positive is essential
to successful performance.
18. Commitment:
Sports performance depends on the
athlete being fully committed to numerous
goals over many years. In competition with
these goals the athlete will have many
aspects of daily life to manage. The many
competing interests and commitments
include work, studies, family/partner,
friends, social life and other
hobbies/sports
19. Within the athlete's sport, commitment can
be undermined by:
A perceived lack of progress or improvement
Not being sufficiently involved in developing the
training program
Not understanding the objectives of the training
program
Injury
Lack of enjoyment
Anxiety about performance - competition
Becoming bored
Coach athlete not working as a team
Lack of commitment by other athletes
