How anxiety has an impact on sporting performance

Anxiety is the negative form of stress which can lead to an increase in arousal and and a potential decrease in performance levels. Often performers experience loss of concentration, feelings of apprehension or an inability to cope, attentional narrowing or fear of failure. (these are known as cognitive responses. Performers may also suffer from sweating, increased muscle tension, feeling of nausea, increased heart rate and other psychological reactions (somatic responses).

There are different types of anxiety that will affect a performer in a different way.

Cognitive Anxiety, which involves the performers thoughts and worries concerning their percieved lack of ability to complete the task successfully. The individual will often experience feelings of nervousness and apprehension and will have difficulty concentrating before and during the competition. This type of anxiety is usually experienced prior to the event, even several days beforehand.

Somatic Anxiety, which involves the individuals physiological responses responses when placed in a situation where he or she perceives an inability to complete the task successfully. The performer may experience an increase in heart rate, sweating, blood pressure, muscle tension and feelings of nausea. All of which could hinder their performance initially; however, these symptons often reduce when the event has started.+

When a performer is placed in a stressful situation McGrath '70 suggested that they respond by progressing through four stages.

Stage 1: Environmental Demands- involves the individual having to cope with a psychological or physiological demand.

Stage 2: Perception of the demands- The individual then makes a judgement about the specific requirements of the task and their ability to deal with them,

Stage 3: Stress response- once a judgement of the situation has been made the individual experiences a specific reaction which may be physical (somatic) or psychological (cognitive)

Stage 4: Behaviour- the performer then attempts to execute the skill. The performers behaviour will often reflect on their psychological attitude to the task.

Spielberger '66 found that individuals may react differently according to the situation  and their personality and identified two types of anxiety which may account for these differences:

Trait Anxiety- This disposition is stable and genetically inherited. This performer is more likely to become more anxious in a wide variety of situations and they will experience a higher stae of anxiety compared to those with a low trait anxiety.

State Anxiety- This occurs when the performer is placed in a particular situation. It is linked to the performers mood and can alter from moment to moment. Both cognitive and somatic anxiety may be experienced at this time.

Arousal theories and the relationship between arousal and performance

Catastrophe Theory 

This suggest that their is an optimum level of arousal where you are performing at your best however if you go past this point then your performance will drop significantly.

This graph reiterates the first point and when the catastrophe occurs there is a significant decline however through the help of coaches who can help you you can start to regain arousal and build it up again. However without this help you are going to continue to decline.

There is an optimum point for arousal where your performance is at its best however if you become over aroused a catastrophe will occur. Lower levels or arousal will just mean that you are not performing to your capable standards.

A case study of this is Ben Flower who became so over aroused in the super league cup final he punched an opposition player to then receive a red card and get banned for 6 months

The Drive Theory

This theory suggests that their is a linear relationship between arousal and performance, which basically means that the more aroused you are the better your performance will be.\

When aroused performers will produce something called a dominant habit or response which is what our body/mind will revert back to when we are not thinking about what we are doing (The typical behaviour pattern of an individual either skilled or non skilled in the execution of a task). In other words it is what we do autonomously. This suggests that elite performers will benefit the most from arousal because it will produce the dominant habit/response which will most likely be the correct one as that will be their autonomous action. Where as novice performer's dominant response may not be the correct one.

This graph just says that as your arousal levels increase so will your performance and that will continue.

A case study of this is when Lucas Rosol beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon due to the crowd he was getting very aroused but it didn't seem to affect his performance as he kept on playing better and better and ended up beating the world number 2 at the time.






Inverted U Theory

This theory suggest that arousal levels reach an optimum point where performance levels are highest but if arousal continues over arousal can occur and then performance levels slowly dip. This is similar to the catastrophe theory where there is an optimum point however instead of  a significant decrease there is just a gradual decrease.

There are different arousal levels where performance differs:

Under-aroused- Lack of attention and concentration
Moderate arousal- Optimum level, good selective attention and concentration.
Over-aroused- Loss of focus, misses cues, makes poor decisions, experience muscle tensions and may show aggressive behaviour.

There is a zone of optimal arousal for each person number of factors such as:

Nature of the task- Complex task would require lower arousal levels where as a gross skill would require higher levels of arousal to perform best.
Skill level- Experienced performers can cope with higher levels of arousal where as novice performers may need to focus harder on the cues.
Personality- Extroverts can deal with higher arousal levels compared to introverts.


This graph shows that there is an optimum level of arousal where performance is at its highest and after that performance decreases.

This all depends on the task as archery would require a completely different optimum arousal level compared to making a rugby tackle.

Changing thought processes from NAF to NAch

Motivation is the desire to fulfill a need which energises and directs your behaviour.

There are two motives: NAch and NAF

NAch- The motivation to achieve success.

NAF- The motivation to avoid failure.

These types of motivations show different characteristics of behaviour 

NAch:

• Looks for challenges
• Values feedback from others
• Persists for longer
• Not afraid of failure
• Concerned about standards of excellence 
• Attributes performance to internal factors

NAF:

• Dislikes situations where there is a 50/50 chance
• Prefers to play a much easier or difficult opposition therefore they can predict the outcome of the game 
• They perform worse when being evaluated
• Attributes performance to external factors

However a person does not have to show all of these characteristics in order to become one of these types of people they can have different characteristics from each however there will be one which outweighs the other.

An example of this is the Sunderland 2013-2014 season. 

Sunderland were on the brink of relegation following a run of defeats under manager Paolo Di Canio. However after the sacking of Di Canio and the appointment of Gus Poyet Sunderland went on an unbeaten run of 6 games drawing one and winning the rest. Playing the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea. 

Somehow Poyet was able to change his players mindsets from being a NAF to a NAch. This meant that players went out thinking they could win instead of thinking about not losing by too much or trying to avoid getting embarrassed. This enabled Sunderland to ultimately avoid relegation and stay in the Premier League for another season. 

However just this change in mindset cannot be accounted for as the only reason as to why Sunderland went on this run as you have to consider the thought of relegation could have spurred them on but also Poyet could have generally a better coach.

Saying this a change in mindset can have a very big difference in the outcome of a situation and a change in attitude will be very effective not just in sport but also when it is applied to a real life situation.

Applying the Interactional Approach to Johnny Wilkinson

Hollander's theory suggests that your behaviours are determined by a combination of genetics and environmental factors using this equation.

B=F(P.E) - Behaviour is the function of personality and environment. 

This equation suggests that your personality is determined by who you are brought up by, where you live and what you do on a day to day basis, the people you hang around with and the situations you are put in from an early age. 

I chose Jonny Wilkinson because this theory can be applied to him. He kicked a drop goal to win the Rugby World Cup at the age of 24 which is reasonably young age. He managed this because his personality allowed him to do this. He was put under high pressure situations from the start of his rugby career competing against the likes of Mike Catt for a position in the England squad. He participated in the "Tour of hell" where England suffered heavy defeats to Australia and New Zealand. This environment which he played rugby in from an early age meant that he didnt feel as much pressure when he was taking the drop goal in 2003. 

The environment he grew up in also helped in high pressure environments as he would practice for 2 hours everyday just repeating basic skills over and over until he perfected them. Again because of this environment he grew up in meant that he was so comfortable with doing a basic skill such as taking a drop goal he could rely on that to make that kick. 

12 years on and wilkinson is still known as the best goal kicker in world rugby. Winning the Heineken Cup twice in a row with Toulon after years of being on the sideline through injury. It was not until when he went to France that he experienced an injury free season. Again his personality helped him achieve this because he wasnt so calm and patient then maybe a retirement would have been on the cards at Newcastle. This patience was learnt again through the environment he grew up in and it could be argued that he has taken some genes from his parents that enable him to do this. This has brought Jonny a very successful last few seasons making him a living legend. I dont think he would have achieved such goals if he was brought up in a different environment 

How i got my personality and why it is suited to my sport

I Think i have set traits and characteristics partly due to my genetics but also partly due to the environment i have grown up in a live in now. I get certain things from my parents which i see daily such as being relaxed and laid back most of the time which i think i get from my dad. But i believe that most of my personality comes from the environment i have grown up in the language i speak and the tone i speak it in reflects being brought up in St Albans and the way i act around certain situations is down to who i hang around with. This has been picked up over time.

My personality is suited to my sport because i am a very competitive person ( which i get from my mum) this enables me to focus more and work harder because i want to win all of the time and when i dont i get annoyed this drives me on and makes me a better rugby player as it will raise aggression levels if needed. My personality is suited to my sport because i enjoy playing sports which i think is an important factor. This i get from the environment i grew up in because i have played sport from a very early age which my parents made me do. This means that i don't ever see going to training or a match as a chore. Because i am fairly relaxed and laid back i allows me to be in high pressure situations without breaking or feeling under pressure this means that i can perform in those high pressure situations as i would do on a training ground.

I feel that my personality and traits mainly come from my environment and that has made me suited to my sport. It has made me work harder, enjoy playing the sport and perform under high amounts of pressure.