Stress Exposure Training; Phase 3: Application and Practice

Stress can play a major factor in the performance of athletes in game day situations. Stress can lead to a number of undesirable consequences, including heightened anxiety and decrements in performance.2 Unfortunately, many athletes are unprepared to handle the high-stress conditions of gameday, because it often goes untrained. As discussed in my earlier blog “Stress Exposure Training” , stress exposure training can provide athletes with the tools they need to be able to perform under stressful conditions1. This blog will discuss the third phase of stress exposure training: Application and Practice.

Purpose of Application and Practice:

The third phase of stress exposure training is Application and Practice. The primary goal of this phase is to practice skills under simulated gameday stress.1 The final stage of training involves “practice under pressure”, in which increased realistic demands are presented during task performance.1 Athletes are able to practice high performance skills under game-like conditions. Specific training of this phase may vary due to the specific stresses of each individual sport. The main focus is to create realistic gameday scenarios.

Common Sources of Stress:

When designing the application and practice phase, it is important to incorporate the stresses that are specific to the sport you are training. Some of the common sources of stress during sports include:

• Performance Pressure 1
• Competitive Demands 1
• Time Pressure 1
• Weather Condition
• Noise 1

The goal of the Application and Practice phase is to provide realistic gameday scenarios that enable the athlete to practice high-level skills under realistic stress. When designing this phase, keep in mind the common sources of stress to incorporate in your training. Each individual sport may have specific stress demands that are relevant to its sport. Remember, stress exposure training should be introduced into the training curriculum after initial skills are developed.

References

1 Driskell, T., Sclafani, S., & Driskell, J. E. (2014). Reducing the Effects of Game Day Pressures through Stress Exposure Training. Journal Of Sport Psychology In Action, 5(1), 28-43.

2 Cutton, D. M., & Hearon, C. M. (2013). Applied Attention-Related Strategies for

Coaches. Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, 4(1), 5–13.