week 3 - arousal and anxiety

arousal

refers to the overall physiological and psychological activation of a person. serves to energise and motivate

anxiety

a future-orientated worry that involves a negative interpretation of an event

cognitive anxiety

the mental responses to stressors

somatic anxiety

the physical responses to stressors

causes of stress

1. competitive stressors

2. organisation stressors

3. personal stressors

drive theory

the theory that as arousal increases, so does performance

inverted u hypothesis

the theory that performance is optimal at moderate levels of arousal, but declines when arousal is too high or too low

catastrophe model theory

the theory that integrates cognitive anxietyconse, and how high arousal and anxiety can lead to sudden drops in performance

consequences of high anxiety

• increased muscle tension

• increased risk of injury

• impaired concentration

• narrowing of attention

• reduced confidence and self esteem

causes of anxiety in performance

• expectations (positive or negative)

• trait anxiety

• perfectionism

• fear (success or fail)

• low self confidence

• spectatoring (focusing too much on how youre performing rather than the game itself)

ways to reduce anxiety and arousal

• normalise anxiety

• reframe anxiety

• relaxation training (best for somatic anxiety)

• imagery

• positive self statements (best for cognitive anxiety)

• self instruction

types of relaxation training

• centred breathing

• jacobsons relaxation procedure

• bensons relaxation procedure

• guided imagery

• 3-2-3

• 5-2-5

benefits of relaxation training

• improves HR, BP, circulation, sleep, breathing rate

• increased threshold for problems

• improved ability to deal with problems

• improved concentration

strategies to increase arousal

• imagery

• self instruction

• positive self statements

• goal setting