Somatic anxiety was a second factor that may affect an athlete’s performance. Somatic anxiety (SA) was defined by Liebert & Morris 1967; Martens et al., 1990; Vickers & Williams (2007) as an individual’s awareness to anxiety that her or she may be experiencing and the physical symptoms that occur. Few of many symptoms associated with somatic anxiety (SA) include increased blood pressure, shortness of breath, clammy hands, muscle tension, choking, sweating and having butterflies in the stomach (Morris, Davis & Hutchings, 1981 p. 541; Vickers & Williams 2007; Fullerton 2007). Another way to measure anxiety was with The Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (Smith et al,; Humara, 1999). This tool assessed and measured the correlation between somatic …show more content…
Vickers and A. Mark Williams; Liebert & Morris, 1967: Martens et al., 1990, Taylor (p. 144) as a mental component when athletes become anxious they begin to think negatively about their current and future performances) and self-confidence. Somatic anxiety was a key component when assessing the true effects that it has on an athlete’s performance (Brustad & Wiggins, 1996). Brustad and Wiggins (1996) tested their theory on a group of 91 athletes. The athletes were between the ages of 14 to 36 years old that participated in a variety of sports: soccer, swimming, and track and field. Those who scored higher on self-confidence and scored lower in CA and SA found perceived their overall anxiety as facilitative (Wiggins & Brustad, 1996). Kirby and Liu (1999) found that athletes who participate in individual sports, such as track and field, have a lower self-confidence and higher levels of SA than those athletes who partake in team sports such as basketball and volleyball. The same holds true for figure skaters. The skaters experienced a substantial amount of CA and SA before their individual competitions in contrast to a team competition. The responsibility that was placed on the athletes in a team sport differed than the responsibility that an individual sport athlete may have (Martin & Halls, …show more content…
A female’s self-confidence was lower than a male’s while their SA was higher than males. The location of a game, a meet or competition was taken into account. By having an away game or meet SA levels increased while their self-confidence was lower (Kavouras, Kenefick & Thuot, 1998). Thuot (et al., 1990) states it does not matter if an adolescent is a male or female, that CA and SA levels was higher while self-confidence levels were significantly lower. Males’ CA and SA was strongly affected by their perception of their opponent’s skills. Factors that determine the levels of CA and SA of a female relied on how prepared they felt prior to performing and how important it was they do
Due to the stressful and high pressure nature of this achievement context in academies, the question of how to ensure athletes realize their sporting potential without experiencing athletic burnout has become increasingly important (Isoard-Gautheur, Guillet-Ducas & Duda, 2012). Research into this process has highlighted various factors such as perfectionism (Lemyre, Hall & Roberts, 2008; Gould, Tuffey, Udry & Loehr, 1997) and stress-coping techniques (Coakley, 1992) as being important in athletic burnout, but has also shown certain motivational factors ( ) to play an influential ...
A student athlete faces adversity on a daily basis. With facing adversity a lot of times comes stress, and with stress anxiety can start to become a huge factor on how the student athlete performs. When speaking of performing, that’s on and off the field tasks. Student athletes are known to have many responsibilities. A problem many student athletes face is managing all their responsibilities while not feeling overwhelmed. Once the pressure of trying to manage all the responsibilities a student athlete might have begins to weigh down on him or her, that’s when one with anxiety can start to lose the “it” factor that allows them to perform.
Many athletes would agree that they have felt butterflies in their stomach or a sudden rush of adrenaline before an important game. This feeling can either translate into legendary performances or monumental failures. According to Sharon D. Hoar (2007), to fully comprehend anxiety’s effect on performance, one must understand the discrimination between two unique sets of sources: trait and state anxiety, and cognitive and somatic anxiety. Anxiety symptoms are numerous and unique to every athlete. Hoar suggests that athletes might report cognitive symptoms (eg. Inability to focus), somatic symptoms (eg. Sweaty palms), or both. The author discusses a variety of sources of anxiety and argues that it can have both positive and negative effects on performance. Anxiety has a significant affect on athletes and garners numerous research studies pertaining to performance.
Psychology is the scientific study of how people behave, think and feel. Psychologists study a broad ranging discipline which incorporates both the scientific study of human behaviour as well as its biological, cognitive, and social bases, along with the systematic application of this knowledge applied to specific problems (McLeod, 2011). However, as for sports psychology, this can be defined as an interdisciplinary science that draws on knowledge from many related fields such as biomechanics, physiology, kinesiology and psychology. Furthermore, it involves the study of how psychological factors can affect an individual’s performance, alongside how participation in both exercise and sport can affect psychological and physical factors (Amezdroz, 2010).
If an athlete has a desire to strive for perfection, it may become a negative type of perfectionism commanding health risks. Perfectionism is known as the analytical assessment of one’s performance. It is a personality trait that aims for perfection and setting extremely high goals for one’s performance (Stoeber, Otto, Pescheck, Becker & Stoll, 2007, ¶ 1). Certain researchers believe perfectionism helps one accomplish top performance. Conversely, others see perfectionism as an interruption to athletic performance. For instance, to some athletes’ perfectionism is a good and healthy as it can be an internal motivation to improve. However, there is a type where it can begin to become negative and unhealthy. Accordingly, some undesirable aspects of perfectionism include unease over mistakes, worries about actions, expectations not living up to results and negative response to faults. Therefore, these actions can become unhealthy to athlete and lead to anxiety (Stoeber et al., 2007, ¶
Existing psychological literature on the aspects of resistance training provides some insight into areas of mental health and sport psychology (Stone, 2009). This includes psychological well-being, self-concept, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and self-worth. Additionally, the well-being of the players includes the mental and physical preparation for a season. Psychological skills that may serve athletes and others participating in resistance training includes: goal setting, relaxation, concentration, imagery, and ritualization (Ogilvie, 1995). The research in the areas of sports science has evolved over the past few years with the emergence of new techniques that help players train to improve performance. Upcoming studies in this area of sports science advocate the necessity of implementation of a sports program that focus on resistance training based on the sports program three metabolic pathways to improve anxiety and
Sports psychology can be defined as the study and application of the attitudes and behaviors of athletes (including team athletes) that impact (either positively or negatively) performance in sports or competitive settings. The goal of sports psychology is to help athletes and teams identify unhealthy attitudes and beliefs, apply mental toughness skills and peak performance strategies to perform at optimal levels (Cohn). Sports psychology is not recognized as a traditional field of practice offered by graduate programs; although, it is a recognized field of specific study under Kinesiology and Physical Education Programs. Sports psychology was first founded in 1920 by Carl Diem in Berlin, Germany. Later on, in 1925, sport psychology was brought to the U.S by Cloman Griffith. These early psychologists aimed to observe the effects of mental state on different factors of performance such as reaction time, tension, relaxation, and awareness (Haney). In the 1960’s Griffith’s research interest in sports psychology reemerged after having faded away for a while; however, the field had a...
The researchers wanted to see “the relation of verbal aggressiveness and state anxiety (somatic, cognitive, and self-confidence)” between coaches and athletes in a sex-specific sport such as volleyball (Bekiari et al., 2006, p. 630). Results examining both sexes showed males have higher levels of somatic anxiety due to the verbal aggressiveness of their coaches compared to female volleyball players (Bekiari et al., 2006). These results could be due to the kind of training and competitiveness, but it still shows how the use of language can have different effects on athletes nonetheless. Additional research done by Julie Masterson, Lisa Davies, and Gerald Masterson showed that coaches should “use positive instruction rather than negative feedback” to encourage their athletes (2006, p. 41). This backs the ideas that verbal aggression is harmful and the research “consistently shows verbal aggression may be associated with negative outcomes and learned helplessness,” two aspects that can be seen in sports that are contributed to the language that is used (Bekiari et al., 2006, p.
Wang, J., Marchant, D. B., Morris, T., & Gibbs, P. (2004). Self-consciousness and trait anxiety as predictors of choking in sport. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 7(2), 174-185.
Sports Psychology Today. Mental Edge Athletics, 4 Sept. 2012. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. Forde, Pat.
In our society today it seems like sports rule the land. Everywhere we look, there is some kind of sporting event going on or being televised. Almost everyone could be considered a fan of at least one sport. Some people follow sports like a religion. With such an increased focus on sports, the athlete's performances are put under a microscope. This puts more pressure on athletes to give a winning performance. No longer do athletes play for fun, they play to win. This isn't happening just on the professional level; it is happening on all levels of sport. From little league to backyard football, the goal is to win at all cost. With this increase pressure, athletes are looking for more and more ways to better their performance. One such way, which is now gaining popularity, is Sports Psychology. Though this isn't a new field, its popularity is just beginning to take off. There is still a lot of skepticism about the validity or worth while of the practices used. The following is a review of a number of articles that outline different studies done that show how athletes can improve their performances. The articles were found using a database search of PsychInfo. Keywords such as increased performance, psychological practices, and sports were used to narrow the search.
Tenenbaum G. & Eklund R. C. (2007) ‘The Handbook of Sport Psychology’ 3rd edition, John Wiley and sons inc. New Jersey.
Firstly, it is vital to note that anxiety, motivation, and concentration tremendously influence people's self-confidence and their performance at the long-run (Damon & Raedeke, P 188). Higher self-confidence reduces anxiety. The vice versa is also true. This is based on the fact that optimally confident sports people experience fewer doubts on self. Their worries reduce and give room for concentration in their activities. Additionally, motivated athletes are in a better position to strive towards achieving their goal. Motivation enables sports people to combat negativity and low self-esteem as they focus more on their goals other than obstacles. Therefore, it is fundamental to note that coaches and sports people must collaborate in finding any mechanisms that could stimulate and uphold self-esteem since it is, directly and indirectly, impactful to their
A lot of times, sports seem like a contest of physical skill― a test to see who is the fastest or strongest, who has the best eye or the most endurance, who can jump the highest or can handle the ball the best. What a lot of people don’t know is that there is so much more to a sport than just the muscle and coordination. In order to excel in a sport, an athlete requires a lot of self-discipline, concentration, and self-confidence. It’s the mental factor that makes a difference. Former Olympic gold medal-winning decathlon runner Bruce Jenner once said, “You have to train your mind like you train your body” (Gregoire 1). Success or failure depends on the mental factors just as much as the physical ones. The training of the mind of an athlete is called sports psychology. The use of sports psychology has a huge impact upon an athlete’s performance. The mental skills of a sport are just as important as the physical skills. All professional athletes use sports psychology. “If they aren’t currently using it, it’s almost guaranteed they’ve used it in the past, even if they are unaware they have” (Davis, Stephens, The Exploratorium 129). It’s hard to find an experienced athlete who hasn’t used sports psychology, because without it, they probably wouldn’t be where they are. The use of sports psychology is a crucial step to becoming a successful athlete.
Hatzigeorgiadis, Antonis, and Stuart J. H. Biddle. “Negative Self-Talk During Sport Performance: Relationships with Pre-Competition Anxiety and Goal-Performance Discrepancies.” Journal of Sport Behavior 31.3 (2008): 237-253. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 27 Oct. 2011.