How Does Stress Affect Sports Performance And What You Can Do To Overcome It.

Sports for leisure can be both fun and thrilling but when competition sets in, it may no longer be so.  With competition, the first thought that comes to mind will be pressure, tension or stress.

There can be tons of pressure in any sports. It can come from expectation of your coach, your friends and supporters that expect you to win. It can also come from within the person. Sometimes, we can be very hard on ourselves. We push ourselves to excel and this further adds to the stress that comes with playing in sports

“How does stress affect Sports ?”

Whatever is the cause, it is a fact that stress does affect sports performance.

One misconception that people have is that stress always has a negative effect or influence on performance. This is not always true as stress may cause negative anxiety in one performer but may serve as a positive excitement for another. Hence that is why you may hear that some players thrive when under pressure while others may crumble.

The level of stress under which you operate is of utmost importance. If you are not under sufficient stress, then your performance is likely to suffer because you would tend to feel bored and unmotivated. On the other hand, if you are under immense pressure, your performance will also be unsatisfactory as you would be distracted and unfocused.

In the middle of these two, there is a level of moderate stress and this is the level of stress that you would perform at your best. This level of “optimum performance” stress is different for different people.

Coping with stress in sports.

To achieve your optimal level of performance, stress management is important. You would need to have a balance of your stress levels. As mentioned, too low a level will make you unchallenged while too high a level will impair your performance. There are coping techniques that can assist you in finding a balance.

The influence of stress on sports performance can either be psychological or physical.

Psychological stress comes in the form of anxiety, fears and negative thoughts associated with the upcoming event or competition. These though common need to be addressed and controlled before they undermine your self-confidence.

Here are some “mental tools” you can use to counter the negative thinking that can undermine a good performance.

Learn to recognize your thoughts (Thought Awareness)

Often, when you are thinking negatively, you will feel fear, criticize yourself for mistakes made or you may even doubt your own ability and skills and expects yourself to fail. Do not suppress these thoughts. Let them flow and note them down

Challenge your negative thoughts (Rational Thinking)

Having listed your negative thoughts, its time to run through each of them and provide evidence against them.  Here are a few examples:

•  “I’m not good enough”
  Have you been training yourself as long and as well that you should have? Have you conducted the reasonable number of rehearsal? If you have done all these, then you are good enough!
• “ What might others think”
  As long as you have performed your best, it is not within your control as to what others may feel or think. Just ignore any unfair comments
• “Afraid that there may be problems during the event”
  Have you thought about contingence plans? Run through all possible problems or distraction mentally and think of ways to deal with them if they arise. Once you have done that, you should be able to handle any problems should they happen.

Be Positive (Positive Thinking)

Instead of thinking negatively, look at things in a positive way. This will help build up confidence. For example:

• Instead of thinking “I’m not good enough”. Think “ I’m well prepared”
  I have trained hard and I’m prepared to give my best performance!
• Instead worrying “What might others think” just think about “ I am going to proof that all wrong”
• Instead of worrying “what might happen during the match”, be positive as “ I have thought about all problems and would be able to overcome any of them”
   

Stress can also affect your body physically. Under the effects of stress, muscle may become tense and tighten. This tightening of the muscle may in turn affect the overall co-ordination of the body and its movement. As such, your movement, fluidity, hand and eyes movement will all be affected which can  influence your performance. 

Using physical stress relieve techniques like “Progressive Muscular Relaxation” or “Deep Breathing” may help. Also, avoid heavy meals and caffeinated beverages before the match, as these are potential stressor that creates physical stress on your body.