How to Fight Stress and Anxiety During Sports?
In today’s world of competitive sports, the intricacies of playing the game well have surpassed the usual physical norms – today players need to be mentally fit and strong to be able to withstand the stress and anxiety that competition brings. In the same way, emotional well being of a team influences its success whereas too much stress and anxiety among its players can virtually mean a death sentence to its victories.
Stress
Indeed, one may point out that the total absence of stress can be harmful for a player/team. Yes, a little stress is required for an optimum performance as it gives motivation for the player to use his potential to the max.
However, excessive stress can damage performance as well as the joy of the sport. Such situations can occur when the situation and the abilities to handle situation don’t match. Stress can also occur due to excessive demand from a player, and social evaluation and the threat to one’s ego that it brings.
The negative effects of stress are:
- It affects judgment and motor control
- It makes one look at competition as a threat, and not a challenge
- It promotes negative thinking, damages self-confidence, narrows attention, and disrupts flow
- It consumes mental energy
There are many symptoms of negative stress, like low self-confidence, being self-critical, consistently under-performing particularly under pressure, insomnia on the night before an event, experiencing difficulty getting loose before a competition, etc.
Anxiety
Anxiety is defined as the cognitive response to a physiological reaction. Over-anxiety stems from a concern in the player’s mind over lack of control over some circumstances. While in some cases being anxious can generate a plausible solution, in most cases anxiety results in negative thinking.
Symptoms of anxiety are - muscle soreness, trembling, restlessness, fatigue, short breath, sweating, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, startled responses, loss of concentration, poor sleep, etc.
Releasing adrenaline into the blood is a temporary solution. While it can physiologically arouse a body and make it alert, it can also inhibit judgment and execution of complex skills. For example, adrenaline plays a negative role in sports like shooting, where fine motor control is involved.
Stress Busting
A sound and healthy mental state of a sportsman surely has a positive effect on his physical state too. Thus stress-busting should be adopted by athletes. They should develop relaxation skills to counter moments of stress and anxiety. Relaxation not only reduces stress but also facilitates rest and recovery from injuries. Having a positive perspective about their game during moments of difficulty also helps. However, in extreme cases, a sports psychologist can play a good role in helping athletes maintain their maximal potential.
However, as always, the first step towards healing is to accept the injury. An athlete should begin to decrease anxiety by first accepting responsibility for the injury and later by monitoring attitude, establishing a support system, setting attainable goals, and instituting a cross-training approach into the healing process.