Paw Print Editor: Brianna Robles
There will always be a competitive aspect to sports but what no one ever discusses is the impact the stress that develops among athletes can cause. Sports Anxiety is more common than we think, and it often begins to occur when competition begins to inch closer. What is sports anxiety you may ask? Well, when athletes are inching closer to being in a competitive atmosphere their motor skills begin to become impaired by tension that is cause through the development of pressure that is created because they become to focus on wanting to perform well. The fear of making a mistake begins to take a toll on their mental health and through this process it can begin to affect their physical behavior, which can cause the body to develop somatic anxiety.
Through somatic anxiety is can began to affect areas of the body such as an increased heart rate. Some other factors to consider that can also begin to occur are tension to build up within the muscles, abnormal sweating, and even trembling within the body. There is also the mental aspect to consider, which plays a major role in all of this. The mental aspect is called cognitive anxiety and through this the athletes begins to tap into the concept of worrying, negativity, and self- doubt. These components make it difficult for athletes to be able to control their anxiety and can have a major effect on the way the athlete will perform on the field.
There are two different types of stressors that can lead to creating anxiety within athletes. The first one is called a Performance Stressor, which is related to risk of injury, self-consciousness, and spending time worrying about the competition. The other type of stressor is called the Organizational Stressor, which is when an athlete feels overwhelmed in a competitive setting or the are too concerned about always meeting a certain level of achievement. Both of these stressors are two different types of factors that begin to cause anxiety to develop among athletes. However, there are many ways an athlete can learn to be able to cope and prevail through these kinds of situations.
The main factor in being able to avoid sports anxiety is by having the athlete value there worth and hard work and preparation. The best way to overcome sports anxiety is to begin to develop confidence and focus on preforming to the athlete’s best ability. Another way to defeat the anxiety that begins to develop is flip the script around and use it as a lesson to begin to develop mental toughness. The brain is a strong muscle and athletes are the ones who are in control of their thoughts, son whenever they begin to feel anxious and have these negative thoughts begin to develop, they need to be able to distract themselves from those thoughts. It is a difficult task to overcome, and it is something that will get better overtime, but the first step is to relax, take a deep breathe, and focus on re-wiring the brain to shut down negative thoughts.
Sports Anxiety is a common factor within athletes, but just like athlete apply themselves in practicing to get better; it is the same process in overcoming sports anxiety—the more the focus is on a good mindset the easier it will become to manage the anxiety.
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