Empower To Perform
Empower To Perform
What is anxiety and which are
its symptoms?
In general, we say that one person is anxious when he is overcome by feelings of fear, dread and unease. It is often possible that a person has anxiety without his knowledge. However, there are several ways to discipher
this issue. For instance, when a person gets irritated easily, often experiences pain in his or her body or feels tired all the time it is extremely possible that he suffers from anxiety. Some more signs that somebody may
have anxiety include being unable to sleep at night, facing difficulties when it comes to concentrating, shacking often, sweating and being overcome by panic or fear.
How can stress affect one’s performance in sports?
Although a healthy amount of stress prior to a competition may be considered helpful as it helps athletes focus and be more alert, an excessive amount of stress may negatively affect their performance. To be more exact, an irregular amount of anxiety may lead to muscle tension making it even more difficult for the athletes to complete
motions with ease and flexibility. It may also lead to pain. For instance, it is very common for athletes to get stomach pain or headache before a race, creating an unpleasant atmosphere and making it hard for them to concentrate and perform to the maximum of their abilities. Stress may also lead athletes to doubt themselves, lose confidence and make impulsive and wrong decisions during or before the race that they otherwise would know better than to do. Lastly, it is a well know fact that
anxiety tires a person. As a result pre-race anxiety tires the athlete before he even begins the competition. In a case where the athlete is stressed even the night or even a few nights before it is also possible that he has not slept and is therefore exhausted and not ready to perform as good as he would otherwise.
How can athletes overcome
their anxiety?
Through my research, I found that there are several ways for athletes to overcome their stress. To begin with, confiding in someone can be extremely helpful. Athletes tend to keep their stress to themselves which only leads to its increasing. However, opening up about anxiety to people he trusts such as his coach, family member, fellow athlete or friend may prove to be extremely relieving. A weight will be lifted of the athletes shoulders as he will no longer have to keep this huge problem utterly to himself. Apart from being good listeners, the others may be able to provide advise, motivate and reassure the athlete helping him overcome this obstacle. He may even choose to talk to a sports psychologist, who has specified in this sector and will for sure be able to help him find techniques and methods to deal with and eventually overcome stress. For others, finding a certain distraction or another particular hobby may be perfect for overcoming stress. In this way they will be able to escape from their reality, forget about the issues bothering them and enjoy time doing something else. This other activity could also help relax them and lighten their mental load. Spending time with people who make one laugh and have a nice time may also be considered a type of distraction. Lastly, in some cases athletes may find it de-stressing to create a plan and follow it. For instance a long jumper may like to previously plan a race, think of his steps and jumps so as to be sure he does not make any mistakes.
What causes athlete’s stress?
There are several causes that may potentially lead to an athletes stress. One of the most dominant reasons for which athletes get stressed are races. More specifically, they may constantly think about the difficulties of a race or if it is against a difficult and extremely good opponent of theirs. The race itself may be a factor causing stress as it may lead to their qualification to another extremely important race that they have worked extremely hard for. Furthermore, they may feel pressured to win or do well and feel that if they don’t they will disappoint other people. They may also fear the reaction of others such as their coaches or supporters. Other athletes may feel stressed because of the crowd or the amount of people watching them and having high expectations for them. In other cases they may know that their race is being watched by their manager or potential sponsors and feel the need to perform well for them. Lastly, one of the main reasons leading to an athletes anxiety is fear of injury or even returning from a time-out due to injury.
What are some ways to motivate athletes?
In order to be motivated it is extremely important that an athlete begins by recognizing his achievement, not only in sports but also in life. After doing so, they an move on to recognize what they are doing well and what needs improvement regarding their perfomace in practise and races. They must not look at bad moments as failures but rather use them to find points of improvement. Lastly, it is essential that every athlete finds an enviromnent to train in in which he or she is supported, appreciated and feels safe. He or she must be able to completely trust the people that they work with. Otherwise, the athlete will constantly be frustrated thus not allowing him to perform at his maximum. There must also be some moments by which the athlete has fun and relaxes in order to escape from the pressure of their routines.