Anxiety and Stress in Sports

Anxiety in sport is common to athletes of all skill level and is most prominent in highly competitive sports environments, which can be termed competitive stress.  Anxiety can be defined as “a state consisting of psychological and physical symptoms brought about by a sense of apprehension of a perceived threat, and can differ according to the situation and the individual.”1 Performance anxiety is not uncommon in sports, as to some extent, fear of performance helps in achieving desired concentration. However, the excess will lead to a rush of adrenaline that can negatively affect performance if not addressed properly.

When you experience shortness of breath, sweating, trembling or rapid heartbeat. You drop concentration, your thoughts and actions become fragmented and you feel paralyzed at the start of an important game. These are symptoms of performance anxiety. You no longer feel confident in yourself and do not believe that you will be able to accomplish anything successful.2 To cope with such negative feelings you must learn how to manage anxiety and to do so, it is critical to understand how performance and anxiety are interrelated.

Anxiety affects a sports player's’ performance in physiological, cognitive and behavioral ways. If you suffer from anxiety before a big game your performance will be negatively affected.  When your body is tense and blood pressure high, it is difficult for your body to move in a fluid and coordinated manner.2 Your actions will be jerky and misplaced, affecting your performance in a negative manner.2 The following are ways in which anxiety can affect sports performance:

• Fear

When one is fearful of a certain situation, they might experience decreased performance or body paralysis if they find themselves present in that situation.

• Unable to Concentrate

Pre-competitive anxiety also develops as an inability to concentrate before an upcoming event or competition. The athlete is unable to concentrate on the task at hand and therefore cannot give their performance full attention.2

• Sweating

The body may feel sudden bursts of heat and will release a lot of perspiration when the body receives signals from the brain. The individual will begin to feel uncomfortable and this merely reinforces the anxiety they are already feeling.2

• Racing Heart

Due to the excess release of adrenaline in the body the heart rate of an athlete may also increase manifold.

• Shortness of Breath

Fast breathing or panting is a common symptom of anxiety.  This decreases the flow of oxygen to the brain and results in dizziness.

• Dizziness

Usually results from severe anxiety when the athlete is panicking, the brain may not receive as much blood and oxygen as it normally does.2

• Shaking

This is due to an increased spike of adrenaline in the body, which is brought on by severe anxiety

References

1McCanny, C. (n.d.). BelievePerform. Retrieved July 22, 2015

2New Health Guide. (n.d.). Retrieved July 22, 2015.