To reach that peak arousal point you need to provide more stress and motivation. Stress management techniques need to be directed at individual needs and the issue at hand, as well as take into account the coping resources the athlete has available. If the athlete has low arousal levels they can use mental imagery to help increase arousal, for example a golfer could have low arousal levels before playing, they can use imagery to picture themselves after the event holding that trophey or looking at the perfect score. Stress, arousal and anxiety are terms used to describe this condition. Trait Anxiety often abbreviated as A-trait is a relatively stable disposition that a person has, frequently depicted as a personality trait. In many cases, emotional feelings and patterns of thought and behaviors are activated, with corresponding physiological and neurological activation, action impulses, cognitive plans, and actions.
The athlete practises tensing the muscles in particular muscle group and then relaxing them again. When you need to psych down, or relax, you just do the opposite. Some trainers call this brain-overload or brain-cramps. While many stress management approaches take an arousal reduction focus, strategies to increase arousal include imagery, self-talk, goal setting, and cognitions or thoughts focused on heightening stimulation. Spielberger 1966 argued that it was necessary to make a distinction between momentary states and more permanent traits.
This does not mean you cannot make the material interesting, just keep their arousal on an even keel. The approach to seeing stress as a challenge supports a series of strategies that can be used to help control arousal in sport. In the end, the processes of recognising a need for change and for managing change may be even more valuable and contribute more to the personal growth of the client than the outcomes. In a game of rugby or football, higher arousal levels will lead to increased strength, power, and aggressiveness. Concentration will come naturally allowing the right decisions to come a lot easier. Different levels of anxiety result in many different forms of behaviour.
Various levels of arousal are often conducive to high performance, and it is paramount that the athlete perceives the arousal as beneficial see Cognitive Control later in this section. But as the state of arousal increases further, it is possible for performance to decrease. However, attention can become too narrow with too much arousal, and can make one pay attention to too much in their environment when there is too little arousal. Usually, people are somewhere in between of those two extremes. Some types of music e. How are you able to control physical arousal? A medium amount of anxiety and arousal will result in optimum performance.
Arousal can help or hurt your overall performance. Emphasize a longer exhale through the mouth. For instance, a boxer would not listen to the same music as a chess player before they enter their competition phases. I took more of a Zen approach to my training. A certain level of stress may be good in sport, but if this goes too far, it may result in performance decline. Shoulders Bring shoulders up toward yours ears. Competitive anxiety is a state of anxiety, stress and arousal that can occur when athletes are taking part in sports.
It is an effective and relatively easy stress management technique to apply. How to Reach Optimal Arousal Levels for Peak Performance Not all athletes are able to reach optimal levels of arousal. This model shoes that at one extreme, where there is little arousal, performance is not so good. This is most commonly incorporated into preperformance and performance plans and routines. Psyching up is just one form.
This blog post will be exploring the different techniques that can be used for athletes who need to control their arousal levels, whether this be raising them or lowering them. This area is also called the Zone of Optimal Functioning. A gymnast will need his head clear to think through their routine and acting energised may be inappropriate prior to competition, and suicidal during. It can be used for visualisation, pre-performance motivation and can also be used post-match as a relaxation technique. You want some mid-level point of arousal that provides the motivation to change learn. It is also psychologically beneficial as it could frighten the opposition and mentally put the team in a position of superiority. But I do it in many different ways - from weightlifting to gymnastics, strongman to kettlebells, and more.
Acquire and deepen your knowledge in Human Anatomy and Physiology. Going through a good warmup with lots of activity will help increase arousal. Personal use only; commercial use is strictly prohibited. The lower lungs are filled by pushing the diaphragm down and forcing the abdomen out. Finding the optimal arousal level, however, is an individual pursuit that is unique to each athlete. These can also cross over into our general feeling of arousal and can be to the benefit or detriment of our performance.