arousal and performance

Arousal and performance

• arousal is our level of alertness and readiness to respond to stimulus

→ combo of motivation, anxiety & the stimulating environment

• arousal = psychological → (emotions, excitement, terror)

• Arousal = physiological (heart rate, sweating)

→ to perform your best → ed optional arousal → not too high/low

Choking

• failure to perform as expected given their skill level → especially when under pressure

→ butterflies in stomach, panic attacks

• can happen suddenly, last months, years or for a whole carrer

Why does is occur

• attentional theory - distraction

• Attention theory explicit monitoring

• Arousal theory - Yorkers Dodson - law

Attentional theory - distraction

• attention theories acknowledge that what we choose to focus on and what we think about before and during a performance, have an impact on our performance

→ distraction theory - suggest we choke because we’ve shifted our attention to something other than the task

• external factors - eg: crowd and environment

• Internal factors - eg: worried about performance etc

→ bcs we’ve shifted our focus onto the stressors, we pay less attention to skill execution

Attentional theory - explicit monitoring

• suggests that due to the pressure → we focus on tasks that usually performed automatically → poor performance

• Focusing on mechanics of task → takes up space in short-term memory → limits awarness of what else could be happening → makes it harder to engage in other strategies

Arousal theory

• when the pressure to perform well is high → higher likelihood to choke

• If arousal gets too high → we move beyond optimal arousal zone → impairs functional ability

• Like-wise → if under aroused → increased risk of underperformance

Yerkes dodson law

• states that we need to maintain a level of arousal that is optimal in a given situation to perform at our best

• Helps explain underperformance and shows relationship btwn arousal and performance in sport

How to moderate arousal when too low

• breath control - elevated breathing where athletes breathe rapidly to increase arousal activates sympathetic ns

• Music - can motivate

How can we moderate our arousal when too high

• progressive muscle relation

• Breath control → deep breathing activates parasympathetic js and lows hr and bp

• Music - can relax

How to overcome choking

• mindfulness - activate PNS → calms body down

• Visualisation - refocuses attention on task

• Reframing the situation → view it as a challenge and focus on available resources

• Shifting focus → shifts attention