Sport practitioners deal with a number of pressure triggers that can affect their athletes’ performance levels. Two common pressure triggers include physical and mental symptoms. 1) Physical symptoms that can affect performance include: Nerves that lead to panic – Performers can start to think negatively as a result of nerves/panic. Negativity will unfortunately lead to […]
This brief practical guide will provide feasible recommendations for developing emotional control in high pressure situations. Encouraging Emotional Intelligence: This very useful form of intelligence can begin to be developed simply by asking individuals to be more aware of their emotions and reactions in high pressure situations. Frequent prompts during these situations may be initially […]
As our lives become increasingly fast-paced, with everything accessible at merely the touch of a button, both our personal and professional lives are becoming increasingly high-pressured and demanding upon our emotional resources. Whether facing an important meeting or presentation within a business setting, training to compete at the Olympic Games, or preparing to serve within […]
One of the most discussed topics in sport at present is the doping scandal and corruption that has taken place widespread across athletics, resulting in many athletes losing confidence in the sport and the people that govern it. As more and more information comes out of the woodwork about the possibility of athletes taking performance […]
With 37 games played, the last match of the English Premier League (EPL) season on Sunday 24th May will see heroes and villains forged. Three teams (Hull City, Newcastle Utd and Sunderland) are staring into the abyss of relegation to the English Championship. The pressure is mounting. For some teams, the thought of survival in […]
Margins between success and failure in elite sport become smaller every year (UK Sport 2014). Consequently, performing under pressure can be extremely demanding for certain athletes (Hanton et.al. 2005 cited by Thelwell et al. 2010), as they understand the difficulty to ascertain success over rivals. Despite having the ability to perform skills effectively, and having […]
Every range and level of sport demands correct and functional management in order to achieve a positive success rate. All athlete’s strive for excellence, where they will face stressors such as difficult relationships between coaches-athletes, injuries, difficult opponents and the scrutiny of media along the way (Nicholls A. R., Polman, R., Levy A. R., Taylor, […]
THEORY: Pressure is something that we handle in two ways. One is positive, the other is negative. Performers who handle pressure in a positive fashion are more likely to enjoy success. Performers who handle pressure in a negative fashion will not succeed. Pressure is something that we should enjoy. PRACTICE: Identify different ways in which […]
Mental toughness is hard to quantify and define, and it is increasingly evident that the concept can mean different things to different people. UK researchers Jones et al. (2002) carried out an in-depth study with top international athletes and concluded mental toughness to be: ‘having the natural or developed psychological edge that enables you to […]
As a trainee Sport Psychologist I have carried out a selection of workshops and consultancy in golf. It recently came to my attention from some individuals that team events can increase the pressure that they experience during a competition. Most golfers spend the majority of their time practising for and competing in individual events. The […]